The article the above poster mentioned has been commented on as being a false alarm. I will post the entire response from the Mayor of Invermere below, but this is the most important statement I believe...
"Quote"but I think it is important to understand that local government (being the Regional District of East Kootenay and the District of Invermere) does not have the legislative ability to ban motorized access on a Federal waterway, such as Lake Windermere. "Quote"
Good Morning Everyone,
I would like to address a few points made by Mr. Read's email and regarding the rumour of motor boats being banned on Lake Windermere
Everyone who owns property or lives in the Columbia Valley is passionate about, and cares about the future of Lake Windermere. There are differences in opinion about what techniques should be used to ensure the continued health of our lake, and there has been and will likely always be different opinions and potential conflicts over different forms of recreation. The diversity of interest and perspectives is important, and part of what makes the Columbia Valley such an exciting and unique place.
The purpose of the Lake Windermere Management Plan is to look at all of the different interests and values, along with looking at what realistic tools and influence local government has in relation to managing Lake Windermere and the foreshore, and to try to develop a realistic and enforceable plan that will help to guide future decisions.
There is absolutely no truth that Lake Windermere Management Plan (or the advisory group that is helping to guide the development of plan) is an environmental group trying to ban or implement boating restrictions on Lake Windermere. There may be individual members of advisory group that have strong personal feelings regarding having no or having increased boating restrictions on Lake Windermere, and those strong feelings and passion are the reason they were selected to be involved. The advisory group is made up of a very healthy cross section of the population, including elected officials (like myself), business owners (including Shadybrook marina operator Mike Dubois), as well as long time residents from both Invermere, Timber Ridge, Windermere, and also representatives from operations such as Fairmont Hot Springs Resort.
From my perspective the suggestion that there is a group of well funded and well organized "locals" trying ban all boating on Lake Windermere is completely untrue. There is a great deal of interest from "local residents" (and I would suggest all property owners and part time residents) in issues related to public access, numbers of boats on the water at one time, and guidelines and how to deal with future applications for marinas and foreshore developments, but I highly doubt there is even close to a majority of local residents that would favour banning or severely restricting motorized access/uses on Lake Windermere.
The other reality that I think is important to point out, and may help to answer why some of the questions regarding boating restrictions were included in the Lake Management survey, is that they help to provide background information that can be included in the Lake Management plan report for further future investigation, but I think it is important to understand that local government (being the Regional District of East Kootenay and the District of Invermere) does not have the legislative ability to ban motorized access on a Federal waterway, such as Lake Windermere. The control and influence of local government is much more related to issues such as foreshore developments, and could potentially be expanded to include issues such as boat moorage if "surface zoning" of the lake was undertaken.
If you could please help me to pass this information along to other people who are interested, and who may have recieved prior emails on this subject, I would very much appreciate it. In closing, I am happy that even more people are now aware of the Lake Management Plan, and I hope that you will take the time to fill out the survey, and I hope that all of you will remain engaged in the process. I will do my best to continue to communicate relevant information as it becomes available.
Thank you,
Gerry Taft
Mayor
District of Invermere
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