Protection of Water Quality and Scenic Values from the effects of Logging at Gun Lake

Gun Lake is a 530-hectare lake on the eastern side of the Coast Mountains, approximately 100 kilometres west of Lillooet. Proposed logging close to Gun Lake raised concerns with the Gun Lake Ratepayer’s Association (the complainant) about impacts on the visual landscape and water quality.

In 1993, Ainsworth Lumber Company (the licensee) proposed cutting permit 143 for a cutblock on the northwest face of Mount Zola, at the southwest end of the lake. A unique feature of the area is a layer of volcanic ash soil. The thin ash layer is the reason for much of the concern about the potential impacts from harvesting in the area. The complainant was concerned that the ash would be easily eroded following harvesting and that this would result in visible scars on the landscape and the transportation of sediment into Gun Lake, the water source for the residents.