Bella Coola Archive
Forestry & Mining
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n the 1860s, the commercial logging industry earnestly began in the Cariboo, with sawmills needed to produce lumber for gold-rush boomtowns. However, one could argue that forestry had been around much longer on the Central Coast, for this is where B.C.’s First Nations developed a system for peeling planks from giant, stillstanding cedar trees to construct their “longhouses.” Examples of these “culturally modified trees” can be seen around Klemtu and the Bella Coola valley. Today, our resource extraction companies are leaders in innovation and the implementation of sustainable, environmentally responsible practices. Value added industries like the successful log home building industry create employment and a stable economy in the Cariboo Chilcotin Coast. Movie stars, internationally recognized politicians and Internet moguls have all had log homes built to their personal tastes by this region’s highly esteemed log home builders. Their innovative homes are in demand on every continent. Products from our many log home building companies, such as Pioneer Log Homes (featured HGTV Canada’s Timber Kings), dot the globe. In fact, the world’s largest “complete log structure building” (at 114,000sq.ft and costing $28 million), is now showcased in Colorado, owned by a publishing and Internet multimillionaire. Today, abundant high-grade
spruce, pine and fir products make the region one of the largest lumberproducing areas in Canada, and though the recent infestation of the mountain pine beetle has had a significant impact, imaginative ways have been developed to use the “blue, or denim pine.” When it comes to sustainable forestry practices, the region boasts the largest biomass power plant in North America. Each year the Williams Lake Power Plant consumes more than 544,310 tonnes of wood waste from local sawmills, generating 67 megawatts of electricity. It is important to note that it was mining that started the rush to this region, with the discovery of gold in the Cariboo in the mid-1800s. Modern-day prospectors still live the dream panning for nuggets in creeks and streams throughout the region. Gold Bridge, near Lillooet, is a favourite with the amateur panand-swish crowd. Numerous regional museums also offer fascinating ways to relive the storied past of both local mining and forestry, with excellent archives illustrating the pioneering spirit of those early days. Some of the world’s largest open-pit operations are found here, including the second largest in Canada; Taseko’s Gibraltar copper mine near McLeese Lake. The Mount Polly gold mine near Likely has an estimated one million ounces of gold to be extracted, albeit
with methods more sophisticated than Billy Barker’s 150 years ago. Recently, more gold has been unearthed in the Chilcotin Mountains’ Camelsfoot Range, and gold placer-mining claims are located along the Fraser River and throughout much of the Cariboo Chilcotin. Visitors can also tour working mines and forestry operations throughout the region. Check with local chambers of commerce and visitor centres for updated lists of what will be open and when. Avid rock hounds in search of jade, and other semi-precious stones, are attracted to the South Chilcotin and specifically Lillooet, home to B.C.’s first jade mines. And for a touch of what gold panning was like during the gold rush, try your luck near Barkerville where gold panning adventure tours are popular. ♦
Highlights Walk the Walk – Lillooet is the site of the first Jade mine in the province. Stunning jade boulders mark stopping points along the popular “Jade Walk”. A perfect stroll while exploring downtown shops and the superb museum. Hike historic mining trails and forest service roads near Likely. The old Bullion Pit Mine is an astonishing manmade 3 klm long and 120 metre deep canyon. Nearby, the Quesnelle Forks ghost town is also interesting to wander through, at your own pace.
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