The Strathcona Regional District is going to be sending a delegation to the province to ask them to mitigate unstable slopes leading in to Zeballos.
In the years since the 2018 wildfire that threatened the village of Zeballos and prompted evacuation orders due to the risk of falling debris, village authorities have noted “frequent deadfalls and rocks” coming from a Crown Land slope just near the edge of the village, according to a request for direction sent to the SRD board on March 26, 2024.
The road in question, Maquinna Avenue, is the main route in and out of the village, and a landslide or rockfall on the road would effectively trap residents in the community.
“There is a slope instability which originates on Crown Land creating the likelihood that rocks, mud, soil and/or trees could fall on the Ministry of Transportation owned/operated road hindering access into Zeballos and possibly causing a vehicle accident should the debris fall on the road in the nighttime with limited visibility and a vehicle hits that debris,” the request says.
The village has done its own mitigation work within the municipal boundaries, but the Crown Lands are provincial jurisdiction. The report says that the Province has acknowledged and funded the hiring of a danger tree assessment specialist, “communication … to get the trees removed on the remaining Crown Land has proven unsuccessful.”
“There is a grant in for re-engineering the slope, but it still faces a lot of hurdles and hiccups,” said Zeballos director Julie Colbourne in the April 24 regional board meeting. “Essentially, what we’re asking for today is the responsibility of the slope of this Crown Land lie with who it belongs to.”
Colbourne then asked if the board could “elevate our voice” to the province, and was open to suggestions about how to do that, saying “I’m not sure that anyone is listening.”
“It’s the Ministry of Forests, Ministry of Transportation and Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness,” said SRD Protective Services Coordinator Shaun Koopman. “If you’ve ever seen that meme with the three Spidermans pointing at each other … it’s essentially that.
“We’re asking for elevation to the ministerial level at this point from the collective voice of the board,” Koopman said.
Director Doug Chapman suggested that the board send a delegation of the chair, Zeballos director, and other members of the board and staff to “thump on the desks as need be.”
The board moved to send a delegation, and passing the invitation along to local First Nations and the local MLA. The delegation will plan to meet with the three ministries, but Koopman joked “I think getting all three in the room would be a miracle. I don’t think that’s ever going to happen but I was going to suggest we ask them to camp out for 24 hours underneath the the trees and the boulders and see how comfortable they feel after that.”