Dear editor,
I read with interest Janis Cleugh's article "‘Too much’: popular Coquitlam waterfall turning into nightmare destination, say residents" on the pressures created by unofficial trails, in particular Crystal Falls.
One of the access ways to Crystal Falls are the trails that come out - unofficially - from Burke Pinecone Park which our club, the Port Coquitlam Hunting and Fishing Club, borders. I'm sure you can imagine the concern we have over unofficial trails that skirt our property as we are a federally regulated shooting range.
We regularly maintain our boundaries, post signs and have also put barriers on areas where unofficial trails threaten to push into our boundaries. For our bit, we donate regularly to Coquitlam Search and Rescue, who have a long-standing understanding that they are able to use our club as an operations base for searches and have even landed a helicopter there in previous years. We have also been a donor to the makers of the well-known Coquitlam Port Moody Hiking/Biking Topographical Trail Map that highlights hazards and no-go areas. As lovers of the outdoors, we respect that there is a growing engagement in our natural areas and hope this will continue, but that people will stick to well-marked trails and obey signs and boundaries for their own safety.
Keith Loh
