The Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations is proposing a recreational area for motocross and ATV riders on Oliver Mountain, while still protecting the ecosystem and species at risk. (File photo)
The Oliver Osoyoos Naturalists’ Club doesn’t like it much, but it can live with a recreation site for dirt bike riders on Oliver Mountain.
Club president Marianne Hutterli said they generally support the BC government’s proposal to establish a site (trail system) for off-road vehicles in the area. But the club wants to see proper monitoring to ensure the sensitive ecosystem doesn’t suffer any more than it has.
“It (the proposal) doesn’t please us enormously, but we have to be realistic – dirt bikes need a place,” Hutterli said.
After public consultation last year, the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations has proposed developing a recreation site and trail network for motorbike and ATV operators, mountain bikers, hikers and hunters.
Road access will be improved and a parking lot will be established, complete with picnic table, pit toilet and various signs. The location is west of Oliver, with access via Willowbrook Road, approximately two kilometres north of the Willowbrook/Fairview Road junction.
Hutterli said it makes sense to provide an area that dirt bike riders have already been using, as opposed to finding a new area to tear up.
“It’s better to have a designated place,” she said, noting that she trusts dirt bike operators to be cooperative and stay on the trails.
However, she wants to ensure that officials properly monitor the area to determine the impact on plants and animals after a certain amount of time.
Dirt bike enthusiast Jeff Muller from Muller Motorsports views the recreation site proposal as a good compromise.
He said dirt bike riders and off-road vehicle users definitely need somewhere to operate, and Oliver Mountain is a good location for them.
Muller noted that trail riders have been looking for an alternate location since the Secrest area was closed off about 10 years ago.
Mike Fetterer, president of the Southern Okanagan Dirt Bike Club, said Oliver Mountain is really the only place left for them, noting that Secrest, Sawmill Lake and Kobau Mountain have all been taken away from trail riders.
Fetterer stated that a lot of access to Oliver Mountain has also been taken away, and the recreation site only represents a “small patch of dirt.”
Fetterer was part of the consultation process last year, and said the proposal basically results in six kilometres of trails after six years of work.
“At least we have something . . . we’re generally happy and look forward to making a small site for locals with proper signage.”
The club president said he doesn’t see a problem with dirt bike riders and hikers co-existing on the mountain.
Fetterer noted that education and signage will be very important in keeping riders where they should be – on the trails.
LYONEL DOHERTY
Oliver Chronicle
