A clear statement from ranchers, residents, and community members on the proposed m.ah a temEEwuh Solar Project.
The proposed m.ah a temEEwuh Solar Project is not a minor change to unused land. The proponent's own Initial Project Description describes a project area of approximately 776 hectares, developed in two 104 MW phases, with shared access roads, transmission infrastructure, fencing, and long-term operations.
This landscape is already used for cattle grazing, recreation, and existing tenure-based uses. The project materials also acknowledge that access is via Tunkwa Lake Road, that current land uses include cattle grazing, that the proposed transmission line would cross tributaries to Guichon Creek, that the area was heavily affected by the 2021 Tremont Creek wildfire, and that the project is expected to operate for approximately 40 years.
This is ranch land and recreation land, not industrial solar land.
The question is not whether solar can be built somewhere. The question is whether this place is compatible with a fenced, industrial-scale solar development.
Our answer is: not without overwhelming public justification, full transparency, and meaningful protection of land, water, access, and existing use.
Enforceable protections, real accountability, and binding conditions — before any industrial development proceeds on this Crown land.
Tunkwa Lake Road serves a park, a ranching landscape, grazing users, and recreation access through sensitive grasslands, wetlands, and fish-bearing country. Cattle on the road are a common reality, and multiple cattle guards underscore that this is active ranch land. It is not an appropriate industrial access corridor for a utility-scale solar development that, across both proposed phases, would be many times larger than BC's largest existing solar facility.
Existing public access routes and traditional use areas — including off-road vehicle access, hunting, fishing, trail use, and general backcountry recreation — must not be cut off, narrowed, displaced, or made unsafe. In a region where sensitivity of the land has already been used to justify closures and restrictions, landscapes too sensitive for expanded public access are also too sensitive to be cleared, fenced, and industrialized.
Ranchers and grazing users who have relied on this landscape for generations must not have their operations, access, or long-established use displaced or degraded by industrial development.
Recreation users, rural stakeholders, and all existing tenure holders must not be pushed aside for an industrial project. The needs of current users should carry real weight in any decision about this landscape's future.
The project area already supports overlapping grazing licences and long-standing recreation use. Open land should not automatically be treated as suitable for industrialization. Any proposal to convert this landscape requires overwhelming public justification.
Consultation must be meaningful, transparent, and honest about who supports the project, who does not, and what impacts will fall on land use, access, wildlife, and culture.
No security lighting, reflected glare, or night-sky impacts that materially degrade the rural character of the area or affect residents, wildlife, and recreation.
No persistent inverter noise, transformer hum, substation noise, or other industrial sound impacts materially affecting nearby residents, ranch operations, or recreation users.
A full reclamation and cleanup bond must be posted before construction begins, large enough to cover complete removal, disposal, land restoration, and any long-term cleanup obligations.
The public must not be left with industrial waste, damaged land, or financial liability at the end of the project's life.
Any approval must include enforceable conditions, independent monitoring, public reporting, and consequences for non-compliance.
In early discussions, proponents indicated they "wouldn't touch" the Community Forest. That commitment must be upheld clearly and unequivocally, with project boundaries drawn to exclude it entirely.
Guichon Creek is vital to surrounding ranch lands and grazing use. There must be no unacceptable risk from clearing, erosion, sediment, runoff, drainage changes, contamination, transmission crossings, or any other project-related disturbance.
If this project increases industrial traffic, noise, dust, danger, access disruption, or loss of enjoyment for nearby residents, there must be enforceable compensation and protection measures for those most affected. Promises alone are not sufficient — binding conditions must be in place before construction begins.
If public land is tied up for decades for a privately owned utility asset, the public must receive clear benefit, full transparency on ownership and tenure terms, and a reclamation bond paid in full before construction begins. Crown land should not be industrialized on the basis of private returns alone.
This project is still in early engagement. Public input now matters most — before the layout and footprint are finalized.
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