SUMMER2016
MOUNTAINLIFE
79
99
99
99
Carpenter
Lake
Pemberton
Whistler
Lillooet
River
Harrison
Lake
Lillooet
Lake
Lillooet
Fraser
River
Kilometres
0 10 20
40
60
80
GoldBridge
Bralorne
SetonPortage
D’Arcy
Birken
Anderson
Lake
Downtown
Lake
Della
Creek
TREADINGLIGHTLY
ForLillooet togain a reputation as amountainbikingdestination, itneedsmore
than a one-hit trail wonder. There are some multi-use trail options in the area
suchasBurkholderLakeand thealpineepic, SetonRidgeTrail, but thedearthof
aproper trail network isnot from lackof rider enthusiasm.The terrainpotential
is there, but the 11 bands of the St’át’imcNation have yet to approve a policy
for backcountry recreation in the area. “We need to be really clear on who is
goingup there andhow they aregoing todo it.The environment comes first for
us,” says Shelley Leech, Tribal Chief, P’egp’ig’lha Council of the T’it’q’et First
Nation, amember of the St’át’imcTribal Council. “This needs to be done as a
collective (within the St’át’imc).We can speak for the areas around us, but are
thosemountainbikers going tobehappy staying inone areaor are theygoing to
want toheadupover themountain and endup inTsal’álh (SetonLakeBand)?”
Another of Chief Leech’s concerns is the preservation of her people’s language.
Onlyone fluent speakerof theSt’at’imc languageremainswithinhercommunity.
“Our language comes from the land,” she says. “Wherever we are, whatever
activity we are doing, whether it’s down at the river fishing, berry picking or
hunting, we speak that particular part of our language in those places. If one
part of our territory is no longer accessible to our people, then that part of the
language is gone forever.”
As hungry as visiting mountain bikers are for new trails, the St’át’imc do
not wish their land to become an extension of the well-developed Sea to Sky
Corridor.Maintaining theSt’át’imc identity, and the connectionof its people to
the land,must come first and foremost. Balancing those traditional values with
mountain bike tourism is the mission of the newly-formed Lillooet Off Road
CyclingAssociation (LORCA).
“Lillooet has a lot of community building to do and successful tourism rests
on that,” says Neil Curtis, a tourism and First Nations economic development
consultant who recentlymoved to Lillooet. “But things in this community are
changing quite fast. The new St’át’imcGovernment Services (formed in 2011)
is integratingwithnon-native communities. Lots of questions, such as how the
backcountry is going tobemanaged, arebeingdiscussedat thecommunity level.
Kevin and I are really keen for (LORCA) to be heavily involvedwith aboriginal
youth.An exampleof that is building thenewpump track in town.”
St’át’imcFirst NationsTerritory
As hungry as visitingmountain bikers are for new
trails, the St’át’imc do not wish their land to become an
extension of thewell-developed Sea to SkyCorridor.
