This letter was sent to District of Squamish council members and copied to The Chief.
Dear mayor and council,
I would like to applaud Kevin Ramsay on the new Squamish Service Initiative. It is definitely time that City Hall was over hauled and given new life. I was especially happy to see that the top nine priorities included the finalization of the OCP and a Waste Management Plan.
While I was happy with the inclusion of the phrase "we will minimize environmental impacts and ecological footprint in our operations and decision-making," I was discouraged that the completion of the ecological mapping for our community was not considered a "priority." How can you minimize your ecological footprint if you don't know where the ecologically sensitive areas are?
The completion of this mapping is crucial and should be used in conjunction with the OCP for any development in our area. There was also no mention of any other environmental initiatives such as the greenways project and connectivity for animal corridors.
I am disappointed that once again it is a document for the humans of our area without addressing the protection of our ecologically sensitive areas. Our watershed and quality of life for all of us depends on our stewardship and we need to take action now.
Other communities have taken a strong commitment to stewardship in their areas, and I was hoping that under new leadership Squamish would do the same.
I would ask the district to revisit their plan and include the completion of the community ecological mapping as one of the top priorities
Yours truly,
Mary Mitchell
Cc Squamish Chief
