By James Peters

Park inclusion ends a decade-long battle for Friends of Bridge Lake

Mar 25, 2019 | 3:26 PM

BRIDGE LAKE, B.C. — A move to include a small island within a South Cariboo provincial park is the culmination of a decade-long battle for the Friends of Bridge Lake (FoBL).

On Monday (Mar. 25), the B.C. Ministry of Environment announced the 29-hectare Heritage Island will be included in Bridge Lake Provincial Park.

FoBL President Chris Lance says Heritage Island is the last island within the lake to be protected as part of the popular recreation area.

“It’s something we’ve been fighting for for several years. It now means that all the islands within the lake are in the hands of the province’s Crown lands,” said Lance.

Lance says FoBL formed in 2008 in response to the threat of a recreational development on Heritage Island.

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“It has a very narrow channel between it and the mainland. A lot of people are concerned that, if any development happened on the island, there would be serious problems because it’s where fish spawn and things like that,” said Lance.

“Also, there are some very large old-growth trees on the island, so it’s nice to know that those will be preserved.”

In 2017, after significant community pressure, Cariboo Heritage Land Development agreed to swap the island to the province in exchange for an 18-hectare parcel of Crown land on the shoreline.

Development plans for the shoreline land eventually fell by the wayside, and Lance says that parcel is now for sale.

In an email to CFJC Today, the Ministry of Environment says any future development of the shoreline property would be subject to approvals from the Cariboo Regional District and the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. The land adjoins Highway 24.

Even with the future of the shoreline land still up in the air, Lance says she’s gratified that Heritage Island is safe from development.

“It will be a satisfactory solution to a long-running battle to get all the islands included in the provincial park,” said Lance. “It’s very good news.”

Editor’s Note: This story was updated March 26 with more detail provided by the Ministry of Environment.