Jumbo Glacier Resort Receives Environmental Assessment Certificate
October 14, 2004
Jumbo Glacier Resort proponents celebrate environmental go-ahead: 9 years of process complete
Invermere, BC. After a nine-and-one-half year process in the provincial government's Environmental Assessment Office (EAO), Jumbo Glacier Resort's go-ahead from the provincial government today is cause for a mixture of relief and celebration among the project's proponents.
"We are very pleased by today's announcement," says Grant Costello, Vice President, Glacier Resorts Ltd. "We are pleased the three Ministers acted positively on the fair conclusion and recommendations of the EAO process.
"This project was approved by the CORE process in 1995, and we would not have dreamed it would take more than nine years to travel through the Environmental Assessment process," he says. "But it has been given the go-ahead."
The project was approved with conditions attached by the EAO. Costello says they accept the conditions, will review them, and he expects they will be able to accommodate the conditions.
"Our plan for the project has been improved by the changes made over the years as issues have arisen," says Costello. "We are confident that the EAO's conditions will also improve the ultimate project."
The next stage in the development of Jumbo Glacier Resort (JGR) is the completion of the Master Plan process and the signing of the Master Development Agreement with the Province. JGR officials are optimistic this can be completed by the end of 2005.
JGR will be built at an elevation and in a climate that could be the world's best for skiing, says Costello. For example, the vertical drop of 1,700 metres (5,500 feet) will be the greatest at any ski resort in North America.
"Lift access to glaciers and mountains of this caliber is not available anywhere else in North America," he says. "Our natural snow conditions are secure--even in the face of potential climate change concerns. We believe JGR will become the centrepiece of the ski industry strategy for the BC Interior."
Costello adds that JGR will provide 850 long-term, full-time jobs in an environmentally sensitive and sustainable project.
"We would also like to thank our many supporters who have patiently stood by this project over many long years," says Costello.
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