Hey Warriors!

Saw your mess on the North Chesterman Bulletin board scrawled over the map information. Also saw it on the bike path. Here's a tip - take some graffiti painting lessons and practice. What you're doing is called vandalism, not social action.

A $360,000+ Traffic Circle at North Chesterman?

We think it's a great idea to spruce up the entrance to The Wick with a handy dandy traffic circle. There's so much traffic there: how can all those city people in their fancy cars quickly get to The Wick when they have to stop - it's soooo confusing...

So the Wick really needs our help and we think that the Town should support them - what's that you say?

Oh, right, I forgot, we already do everything they say. Well this is just one more thing that we can do for The Wick.

Doesn't it feel good to give and to feel needed by our local elites?

We say only $360,000+?
Can't we give more to The Wick?

Drop in to the next council meeting and ask council - Can't we give more? You're doing a pretty good job making things smooth for The Wick, but can't we do more?

How Much Did Tourism Tofino Spend on a Website?

There are some wild numbers floating around. How to get to the facts? We're trying to find out. But some big questions are needing answers:

Why is Tourism Tofino and The Tofino Chamber Not Hiring Local Talent?

Why are they not spending their/our big bucks locally, which then goes into other businesses in our local economy?

Tourism Tofino Hates Bikes!
Tofino Chamber Hates the MUP!

Yes, it's true, Tourism Tofino or The Tofino Chamber or whatever it's called doesn't want you to bike past them on Tofino's bike path. How do we know this - well, we are bikers (pedal-bikers not the other kind) and when we ride out the MUP to Cox Beach or beyond a funny thing happens at the Tourism Tofino/Tofino Chamber office.

At the Tourism Tofino/Tofino Chamber office grounds, the MUP bike path ends
in boulders on the path and loose gravel and then continues after the office grounds.

When you reach the spot where the Tourism Tofino/Tofino Chamber land is you have to dodge cars, motor homes and trucks turning in and out of the gravel lot. Hang on to your handlebars because the paved pathway turns to loose gravel and that's after you negotiate past the two big boulders installed at the end of the pavement.

Much better to have bicycles wipe out than to control the Tourism Tofino/Tofino Chamber traffic.

If you make it past the boulders onto the gravel and don't get hit by a vehicle, a cyclist then has to go around the stupid grass obstacle, whoops we mean the lovely garden feature the Tourism Tofino/Tofino Chamber has installed right where the MUP should continue! Either you veer into the parking lot traffic area or out by the highway to get past that grassy built-up area. Then make sure you don't get hit again by a vehicle at this end where traffic is coming and going, make your way past the other boulders and you've made it back to the safety of the MUP. Whew!

At a time when more people than ever are using the MUP, you'd think that Tourism Tofino/Tofino Chamber would lose it's arrogance and be respectful to the MUP and it's users and be a responsible corporate citizen. Why would we use the word arrogant with respect to Tourism Tofino/Tofino Chamber? Because we know that years ago this issue was brought up to Tourism Tofino/Tofino Chamber and they refused to deal with it.
And we all know they certainly have the cash on hand.

But wait you say, staff at Tourism Tofino/Tofino Chamber ride their bikes to work. Yes, but seems they're not interested in having anyone go past their land.

The MUP doesn't end at Tourism Tofino/Tofino Chamber,
so why do they think they can act like it does?

What's the solution? Well Tourism Tofino/Tofino Chamber, and Live To Surf and Tofino Botanical Gardens for that matter (even though TBG we know you've tried a little bit to make life at your driveway safer for MUP users), check out Clayoquot-Orca Resort. They have gone a long way to making the entrance at their driveway safe for MUP users. No, you don't have to pave your entire lot, just support the MUP and be a good community citizen.

Check the Tourism Tofino/Tofino Chamber bike path, MUP photos and see for yourself.

Remember this is our opinion and we'd like to hear yours.

Feedback about the Bike Path at the Tourism Tofino Office

2009/04/15
You have taken the chamber to task on issues that we have no control over.  We don't "hate' the MUP, and aren't responsible for the large rocks on the path, the municipality is. The rocks were placed on the path to keep cars from driving down the MUP; in other words, to protect cyclists.

Same for the gravel parking lot, the property is not owned by the chamber or Tourism Tofino, but by the municipality.

Best,
Michael Tilitzky
Executive Director
Tofino-Long Beach Chamber of Commerce

TTN: We would like to say we are happy to see your email and the chance for a dialogue. Our wish is to rectify this siutation and if that's your wish, then let's make it happen. Can money make this happen? You do have a fair chunk of change don't you and wouldn't this be a good place to put some of it?

Basically we're not buying it, sounds like a pass the buck to us and we'll elaborate on that in our next post. We like to do things by consensus and so we'll have a chat among ourselves and respond, but there's a lot of big money floating around and that bike path and parking lot is an accident waiting to happen. Hey! How about a roundabout there!

And while we're taking another look around this issue, perhaps Mr Tilitzky, you would be so kind as to send us the figures for the new websites for the Chamber and Tourism Tofino - or what we'd really like would be a list of your big ticket items and see how much you are actually supporting our local small businesses.

2009/04/15
Why is the bike path not paved through the Tourism Tofino site? Do you  know who made that decision?
Who actually put the boulders on the path? Is the path public property? Can you simply push the boulders off the path?
Email from TTN visitor.

TTN: See Mr Tilitzky's email above for some information. Have you seen those boulders? Yes, we admit, we have tried, but they're too big for us.

Tourism Tofino/Tofino Chamber believes the Tofino Bike Path/MUP ends at their land.
If you don't - be prepared to weave through boulders, ride in loose gravel, negotiate through car, motor home and truck traffic, veer around their grassy, rhododendron obstacle either into traffic in the parking lot or on the other side by the highway, negotiate again through more car, motor home and truck traffic, make your way between more boulders and you've made it.

The Clayoquot-Orca Resorts likes Tofino bikers and Tofino MUP users.

Check the Tourism Tofino/Tofino Chamber bike path, MUP photos and see for yourself.

Copper Mine in Clayoquot Sound Update

Let the exploratory games begin! Congratulations to Selkirk Mining and The Tofino Council for the exploratory drilling permit for Catface Mountain. Beautiful Tofino - Land of Sea, Surf and Dangerous Copper Mining! That's some protection for a UN Biosphere. We are so proud of Mayor John Fraser, the Tofino Council and all residents who did nothing to oppose this mining permit.
We got gold baby!

Hey Miners! Leave Clayoquot Alone!


Will the Chemical Suit shown here soon replace the familiar orange whale watching suits on tourists and residents in Tofino?

And how will we fit them on all the eagles, herons, bears, whales, otters, salmon, crabs, sea urchin, star fish, halibut and all the other birds, fish and animals who live here?

Stop Exploratory Drilling for Copper in Clayoquot Sound!
 
Vancouver-based Selkirk Metals Corporation has applied to the BC Ministry of Mines for a permit to do exploratory drilling for copper on Catface Mountain in Clayoquot Sound.
 
The potential mine would remove the top third of Catface Mountain. It would be located in the middle of the Clayoquot Sound UNESCO Biosphere Reserve with the potential to leach toxic chemicals into groundwater and streams, but on the other hand it will create a beautiful industrial view for Tofino.
 
Exploratory drilling will be damaging, it would involve re-building/building roads to bring in drill rigs - and once that machinery is brought in do you think the mining company wants to remove it? or do they leave it there ready for when the real mining kicks in?, and drill holes could leach toxic levels of heavy metals and chemicals into groundwater and surrounding salmon streams - just one more thing that Tofino can be proud of - we let a mining company come into a UN Biosphere Reserve and leach heavy metals and chemicals into the streams and groundwater. Way to go Tofino! That's where we want to spend my tourism dollars - in a wilderness biosphere that is polluted.

What You Can Do!
 
It's simple - governments listen to you if you show up in numbers. And all you have to do is send a postcard, a letter, fax, email or phone call. Be short and to the point. Use the addresses listed below or complete this online form and send it to all the email addresses below.

Why You Should Help. If we have to tell you... but anyway
Tofinoites - because you live here and it's on your watch. Are you going to let down one of the most beautiful places in the world, the place that gives you peace and joy, the home you love, the wilderness that brings you big bucks?
Visitors - because Clayoquot Sound needs you and you are the paying customers who tourism dollars can drive politicians, business owners and residents to do the right thing. Sometimes being too close is a blinder and we need your perspective to help us see the light.
Natives - just because the official Ahousaht First Nation has entered into a MOU with the mining company don't think that your voice will not be heard. We all have representatives that do things we disagree with and TTN can't imagine that it's in your best interest to tear away Catface for a bit of copper. How do you explain that to future generations saying, 'at the time we got money for it and a few jobs and today you kids get toxic waste, leaching chemicals, and a landscape forever changed - sorry about that'.

You may alter any of the text below to suit your concerns. The text given is only a guideline.

No one but the above politicians receive your message. It is between you and them. True Tofino is making this form available for you: we receive a copy of your email or extract any information from it.

Of course, You can always send us your thoughts, we welcome them! ohyeah@truetofinonews.com
 
Send your message another way
I do not want any mining or exploratory drilling on Catface Mountain in Clayoquot Sound. I insist that Selkirk Metals application for exploratory drilling be denied. Please reply and inform me how you are dealing with Selkirks drilling application for Catface.
 
Write to: 
Premier Gordon Campbell, PO Box 9041, Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC, V8W 9E1 premier@gov.bc.ca           
Tel: 250-387-1715  Fax: 250-387-0087
 
Barry Penner, Minister of Environment, PO Box 9047, Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC, V8W 9E2
env.minister@gov.bc.ca Tel: 250-387-1187 Fax: 250-387-1356
 
Richard Neufeld, Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, PO Box 9060, Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC, V8W 9E3  empr.minister@gov.bc.ca  Tel: 250-387-5896 Fax: 250-356-2965
 
Kevin Krueger, Minister of State for Mining, PO Box 9070, Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC, V8W 9E2
smin.minister@gov.bc.ca   Tel: 250-953-4100 Fax: 250-387-1803

Mining in Clayoquot - Not a Bad Dream

When Copper Mines used up and abandoned and still pollute - Who Pays For Clean Up - You Do!
Province announces cleanup of abandoned open pit copper mine in Courtenay, BC
The B.C. government says an abandoned open pit copper mine in Courtenay will be cleaned up to support the recovery of Vancouver Island fish stocks. The Mount Washington mine operated for three years in the 1960s before it was abandoned. By the 1980s, toxic copper leaching from the site had virtually eliminated the salmon, trout and steelhead resource in the Tsolum River watershed.

British Columbia — Tsolum River (Mount Washington Mine)

The Tsolum River on Vancouver Island provided rich runs of coho, pink, chum and cutthroat salmon and steelhead trout for thousands of years. The river was rich in invertebrate life, free from silt. 

... In 1964, Mt. Washington Copper moved into the upper watershed and built an open pit mine. It went into receivership in 1966, leaving unreclaimed pits and waste rock piles where pyrite ores lay exposed to water and oxygen. This ore, with a high content of sulfur, quickly formed sulfuric acid by coming in contact with oxygen and water. A copper leachate formed and reached the Tsolum River and from there, the Courtenay Estuary. By 1985, the River was as good as dead.

Attempts to deal with the disaster, including piling all the waste rock in one pile and mixing it with lime, have not worked.

The copper has destroyed the fishery which used to generate $2 million per year. It has been estimated that the cost to residents and taxpayers so far of this environmental disaster is over $60 million.

The solution is to research and monitor water flowing from the mine to determine all the sources of contamination, to pipe the leachate from these sources to a water treatment plant, and to monitor and treat the problem in perpetuity. Despite pressure from citizens groups, this has not yet happened. The estimate to build the treatment plant is $6 million.

(from Saving the Tsolum River,by Father Charles A.E. Brandt, and Acid Mine Drainage, by the Environmental Mining Council of British Columbia)

Wilderness Committee predicts massive fight over plans for copper mine in Clayoquot Sound
“I could scarcely think of a more environmentally damaging project than an open pit copper mine smack in the middle of the Clayoquot Sound Biosphere Reserve. If the Selkirk Metals actually believes this open pit mine project will ever see the light of day – then I think they must have rocks in their head,” said Foy “Opposition to this project will be local, national, global and massive,” he predicted.

Environmentalists Vow to Fight Copper Mine in Clayoquot Sound
If mining takes place, plans include the development of a new port for container ships, several giant open pit mines, new dams and lakes to contain the most toxic waste products, kilometers of conveyor belts that can emit toxic dust, diesel generator power stations, and roads - all visible from the town of Tofino and from Ahousaht.

Some of the World’s Richest Marine Life Threatened by Copper Mining
Copper mines similar to that proposed at Catface have horrible environmental records. The Copper Mines at Butte Montana, for example, are the site of the largest and most expensive toxic waste cleanup in United States history, and cancer rates are off the charts. The copper mine at nearby Mt. Washington, BC wiped out all five species of salmon in the Tsolum River.

Logging in Clayoquot Sound

This information about Clayoquot Sound logging was sent to us by a reader. Thank you very much for keeping us informed about what goes on in the depths of Clayoquot Sound. If devastating logging happens in Clayoquot Sound but no one's there to see it, is it really happening?

This is "Ecotrust" logging.....this is "highgrading" old growth cedar forests of Clayoquot Sound,  this is FSC "certified". These forests will never exist again and these ancient trees are falling  here daily. Logging is taking place by Ecotrust, Triumph Logging out of Campbell River and Coulson out of Port Alberni. Their plans are to log what is profitable this year, be into pristine areas next year and then into parks, (Megin and Moyeha, etc.). Watershed management logging plans for these areas of Clayoquot are all going ahead now. These cedars are also what won the Meares Island court case in proving "continual use" through culturally modified trees, the story is in the cedars.

Please visit our sponsor for this article - Mila, Makin and Rankin Coves, Clayoquot Sound

Challenge to All Media

Citizens, shops and restaurants are doing their part in public awareness of the dangers of fish farms. They have done their homework and realized that fish farms are not sustainable, healthy for or kind to Clayoquot Sound and have stopped eating, selling or serving farmed fish. TTN has done research and we believe that these people, shops and restaurants are correct in their assessment.

Our challenge to all Tofino and Ucluelet media - it's time that you stepped up to the plate and declared your allegience. If you believe in fish farms, keep on taking their advertising dollars and putting ads front and center on your pages.

If you do not believe in fish farms refuse to take their blood money and do not run their ads. And don't talk to us about censorship - media censors advertisers all the time.

So, Westcoaster, Tofino Time and The Westerly - what do you say?

Show a Little Respect

Respect Tip #1 - Beaches
When you take a walk on the beach pick up one piece of garbage. If we all picked up just one piece each time we visited the beach, say a battered water bottle, it would go a long way to keeping our beaches clean.

Why should I pick up someone else's garbage?
Because someone else may be picking up yours. None of us knows how much stuff may fall out of our pocket, or when our dog may pooh and we don't see it, or when something drops off our boat and we can't pick it up at the time. So, consider that and pick up one thing next time you're walking the beach.

And surfers, if you take your dog to the beach think about it - they may pooh and you sure won't see it, so pick up a dog pooh sometime even if it isn't your dog's. Oh too icky! Well, get over it and do your part.

Having a picnic or bonfire - great. Just remember if you carried it in full you can certainly carry it out empty.

Please visit our sponsor of this article.

Idling? - Just don't do it
Let's make Tofino an Idle-Free Zone

Idle for 6 seconds? Turn It Off!
Think about it - you're making a quick stop in at the laundry or the surf shop or the market just for a second to pick up ________. You leave your vehicle running because it's just a second. Well, if that's you, and you know who you are, count to 6 as you're doing that errand because after that you're polluting the earth for no reason whatsoever. (1)

But I'm using bio-diesel so I'm not polluting when I idle my vehicle. Think again. Just because you're using bio-diesel doesn't mean that there is no cost to that fuel. How do you think that bio-diesel gets to Tofino - by a fuel driven truck. Are you using 100% bio-diesel or a mixture? Where do you think bio-diesel comes from and how much fuel driven farm machinery and pesticides are used on those crops? Who do you think grows those crops for bio-diesel - agra-business, who are just as nice and friendly and caring about the environment as the oil companies. So do you really think you're not harming the planet letting your vehicle run because it's bio-diesel?

Think you need to idle your car? Read these idling myths from the City of Burnaby, BC

In 2003, the British Columbia Provincial Health Officer’s Report estimated the number of emergency room visits per year attributable to air pollution in B.C. at approximately 1000. (2)

Keep Going...There's More >>>

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On This Page

Warriors

Traffic Circle to Nowhere or is it The Wick Inn Circle?

Tofino Tourism Web$ite

Tourism Tofino Hates Bikes
Tofino Chamber Hates the MUP

Mine Clayoquot Sound

Log Clayoquot Sound

Media Blood Money

Surfer Dog Poo

Idling Tofino Cars

About Us

Welcome to True Tofino News where we attempt to find the truth in news. Most media is skewed to business, progress, development and the right - some blatantly, others so subtlety that you may not even notice. To be fair some media are balanced but that doesn't mean that the truth is in there.

We are locals with an interest in maintaining the natural environment of this beautiful place.

Let's remember why we live here and why people visit - nature. Let's work to hang on to what we have now and instead of ruining it, make it better.

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