Stewardship Pemberton had great news to report at Monday’s (Dec. 6) annual general meeting regarding both the status of the One Mile Lake Nature Centre and of salmon populations in the area following the Mount Meager landslide.

Director Veronica Woodruff announced that the initial funder of the nature centre project, the Pacific Salmon Foundation, has kicked in another $40,000, bringing its total contribution to $230,000.

“With that money, we’ll be able to finish up the project,” she said Tuesday (Dec. 7), noting that significant funding amounts from B.C. Hydro, the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation, the Sea to Sky Golf Tournament and other community donations have helped make the building a reality.

“We’re cruising along. We’re slated to be finished sometime in the next two months. Some of the bigger capital items like the water line connection may happen a little later, but the building itself should be operational certainly by the time salmon releases are ready for the spring for all our classroom incubation programs,” she said.

The nature centre has been in the works since 2004, so Woodruff said it’s “incredibly satisfying” to have the project weeks away from completion.

“It’s been a long time coming and we’re really delighted,” she said. “I think with all the upgrades that happened at One Mile, with all the new trails, the timing is really great.

“I think it’s going to be a great amenity for the community.”

Salmon stocks ‘resilient’ after slide

Monday’s AGM also included discussion on how salmon stocks have reacted to the summer landslide, and the populations seem to have adapted well to the change in waterscape.

“It’s been really amazing how resilient some of the salmon have been,” said Woodruff. “The slide itself would have been incredibly devastating to the fish that were in the main stem Lillooet (River) that didn’t have areas of refuge to go to… not only from the sediment load, but also from the really quick drop in water.”

However, different species began reappearing in the river less than a month after the slide, Woodruff said, and population counts have been encouraging.

“The numbers of Sockeye spawning in the upper regions of the Lillooet were good,” she said. “Our Coho runs have come in now, and we are seeing good returns right at the toe of the slide and above it as well.

“It’s quite different up there and they don’t seem to mind. A slide like this creates a lot of new habitat in the long run.”

Woodruff said it’s difficult to determine the total number of fish killed as a result of the slide, and that the ongoing and long-term effects on salmon are starting to be noticed.

“We’re going to see a lot of movement of woody debris, which is great for habitat but not so great for human habitat, so there are going to be issues with flood concerns from gravel loads or woody debris on bridges or certain areas along the dike. So the long-term impacts are going to continue.”

Woodruff said she thinks that the completion of the nature centre will allow for discussion on the topic to continue in the future.

“It’s really providing a forum for open dialogue on these kinds of events, and that’s really what we want because it’s all the different users working together,” she said.