Thursday, September 6, 2012

Woodstore Exchange and other items

Woodstove Exchange Program Now in Bridge River Valley
Residents living in the District of Lillooet and Electoral Areas A and B of the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) are being offered a cash incentive to upgrade their old wood stoves as part of a provincial program to improve air quality. The Woodstove Exchange Program provides a $250 rebate to homeowners who replace old, inefficient and uncertified wood stoves with new certified clean burning wood stoves and other qualifying appliances.
The initiative is part of the Sea to Sky Clean Air Society’s Woodstove Exchange Program and is funded through grants provided by the B.C. Ministry of Environment and the B.C. Lung Association. The SLRD recently took over the administration of the program, enabling it to expand the program to include the northern parts of the regional district. There are approximately 100 vouchers remaining in the SLRD; vouchers will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. The program will continue until all of the vouchers have been claimed.
Rebate applications can be picked up at Rev-it-Up or Tim-BR-Mart in Lillooet, or at the Gold Bridge Transfer Station or the Lillooet Landfill. To qualify for the rebate, the old appliance must be taken to the Gold Bridge Transfer Station or the Lillooet Landfill where it will be rendered inoperable and recycled. As an added incentive, standard tipping fees will be waived on all wood stoves recycled as part of the exchange program.
The goal of the program is to replace 50,000 old wood stoves throughout British Columbia. New certified wood stoves are proven to burn about one third less wood, reduce smoke and particulate emissions by up to 70%, and can significantly reduce the risk of chimney fires.
For a list of qualifying appliances or for more information about the program, please visit www.seatoskyairquality.ca/woodstoves or contact Ian Holl, SLRD Planner at iholl@slrd.bc.ca.

Spruce Budworm Meeting Very Informative
Residents from all the areas of the Bridge River Valley came to hear Lorraine Maclauchlan  speak about the Spruce Budworm, its impact and potential mitigation (spraying) in the area Labor Day Monday.  The meeting was very well attended (60?).

The links to the presentations are provided here:

Egg sampling will be occuring in the next several weeks.  Once the full information regarding next year's potential infestation is known I will advise the community.