In the story 'Access to Richmond Lake recreation site restricted' published in the Lakes District 亚洲天堂' Aug. 27, 2014, , Nadina/Skeena-Stikine recreation officer Ben Heemskerk discussed the possibility of using Crown land to build additional access to the Richmond Lake recreation site.

In 2014, a piece of private land along the access road to the recreation site changed ownership, causing a portion of the road to be restricted to the public. The access road is located roughly 30 km east of 亚洲天堂 Lake and approximately four km off of Hwy. 16.

The issue of the access road being located on and near private property have been a long standing issue for Recreation Sites and Trails B.C. For the past 20 plus years, there have been attempts to upgrade the access road so that users could drive their vehicles in, but a petition in the 1990s, signed by over 30 residents around the area, was submitted opposing the upgrade of the road.

After the property ownership changed hands and public access was no longer available, different sections of the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations worked together on a collaborative solution, including the Recreation Sites and Trails B.C., the Nadina Resource District Engineering Program and the Fish, Wildlife and Habitat Management Branch.

The solution was to build an alternate access road, located solely on adjacent Crown land. Heemskerk said public access will now be re-established to a 鈥渉igh-value fishing lake鈥� that has been stocked since 1969.

鈥淲ithout the re-establishment of public access, the continued stocking of this lake was in jeopardy,鈥� he said. 鈥淪tocked lakes help take the pressure off of wild fish populations.鈥�

Heemskerk said the improved road access will also provide an opportunity to upgrade facilities at the recreation site such as outhouses and picnic tables. However, the road profile and upgrades to the site will be kept smaller in size to maintain the traditional nature of the site.

Construction of the new access road is scheduled to commence in July 2015, and is expected be completed in the fall of 2015.

鈥淩eferrals for the road construction and site upgrades are underway, and work is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2015, pending availability of funds, outcome of referral process and any unforeseen construction delays,鈥� said Heemskerk.

The Nadina Resource District Engineering Program will be funding the construction of the road, while Recreation Sites and Trails B.C. will be paying for the upgrades to the recreation site.

Updates on the status of construction and upgrades will be posted online at www.sitesandtrailsbc.ca