Dear Editor:
Our names are Arch and Dawn; we are the owner/operators of Blue Lakes Resort at East Blue Lake in Duck Mountain Provincial Park.
A flood started at East Blue Lake in 2010 and has been ongoing to date of 2015. The lake is now ten feet higher than normal levels and shows very little sign of receding without help. It is not a natural occurrence; it did not happen before, as Conservation claims, eighty plus year old trees do not lie.
Our entire business, home, livelihood, and much of our infrastructure is in danger of being completely lost, not to mention the eighty plus year old trees already dead, which are irreplaceable, the sand beach, the shoreline, the beauty and serenity of the entire area are in serious jeopardy.
Arch and I are hard working, as are many in today’s world; we are honest, good people. We have owned and operated our business for 13 years; we treat each person, each customer who step through our door with friendliness and respect.
One customer, ‘Tracy’, tells the story of how she needed an item we did not have on our shelf. As The owner, I went to my personal stock and supplied her with what she needed. That meant something to her.
Another repeat customer, ‘Jan’, says the reason they keep returning is because it feels like family, that we treat everyone like family.
We fix flat tires, let people use our business phone as there is no land line and cell service is intermittent, we’ve closed our store to find or help people with emergences, we lend out tools, booster cables, etc., to complete strangers on the faith that they will return it. We do it because we care; it’s just the type of people we are.
The point we are trying to make is this all means something, we mean something. We should matter, our business should matter, what the people need should matter.
Many people say if it wasn’t for us there would be far less visitors to the Park simply because of the questions we answer, the help and guidance we provide to campers due to the sporadic hours of the Park Office at Blue Lake Campground. We sell $30 to $40 thousand dollars in a six month season of fishing licences and vehicle permits for MB Conservation and the Province.
The disastrous state of East and West Blue Lakes needs to be addressed. When previous visitors return after a few years absence and are not sure they have arrived to the correct area, there is something seriously wrong. Their memory and the present devastation just do not make sense.
The dead and dying trees, the eyesore of the stones leading up to the beach, the lack of a sand beach due to the fact that one hundred feet of beach is in the water, the weeds along the shoreline encroaching on the beach are disgusting and an eyesore, the ice cold water pumping into the middle of the swim area, the ditches are full of water, weeds and bulrushes. The fact that our store is sinking into the ground, which has been surrounded by water for three years, the collapse of our holding tank that has caused the closure of our restaurant and our laundry facilities, the inability to use our washroom in the store, the structural damage to our rental cabins, and the possible, impending damage to our new home are all issues in existence as we write this letter. This forgotten area of the Park has many other issues that need to be addressed, areas that are suffering but there are just too many to list.
The Province and MB Conservation refuse to lower the lake level, stating that they are not allowed to manipulate lake levels on a recreational lake but it is done at Child’s Lake, a mere 19 kms away from East Blue. It has been stated by Conservation that it is not part of their water management strategy to manage the water. For emergency situations, such as this, make a change to the policy as they so often do when the need benefits them.
They are spending 100’s of thousands of dollars for upgrades in the campground, which is great, but when the two main attractions in a remote area are a store and a beach that may no longer exist, who will utilize the campground.
They are building a $250,000 bunkhouse for Park Patrol and Park staff to entice people to seek employment here. There won’t be a need for employees if the two main attractions do not exist, there won’t be anyone here.
Lake St. Martin and Spruce Woods are receiving millions of dollars for flood proofing, to protect homes and businesses, which is needed and we don’t begrudge the fact that they are getting badly needed help. Five million dollars have been allocated to repair the seawall at Winnipeg Beach to protect the shoreline, homes and businesses for something that happened only a few months ago. We have been in desperate need of help for five long years, one year longer than Lake St. Martin and Spruce Woods.
We need help, we need public support, an outspoken protest by groups such as Idle No More, or the aboriginal chiefs who’s agendas are often about the land, the lakes and the trees, we need fundraising, we need legal advice with regards to the decimation of our ‘Quiet Enjoyment’, we need TV coverage, a reporter who isn`t afraid of Conservation or the Province. Where are Minister of Tourism, Travel MB and Dept. Of Fisheries, who should be involved as well? We need help.
We have been lied to, bullied, shunned, threatened, discriminated against, and manipulated by the very people, the landlords of our crown leased land who have ruined our “quiet enjoyment” for five long years. Every person who prefers this type of serene, quiet, non-commercialized setting is being discriminated against when it comes to the allocation of financial funding. The money goes where the people go, not according to the fact that we all are tax payers. If this very same disaster happened in the most popular Provincial Parks, it would have been repaired and protected years ago.
We have been emotionally, mentally physically and financially affected by this on-going disaster for five years. There is not a day that goes by no matter where we are in this world that we are not affected by this. We are flood victims.
If there is anyone who can help us, offer any suggestions in any way we would greatly appreciate it. Take a moment and put yourself in our shoes and ask yourself what you would be doing.
Thank you
Arch and Dawn Dowsett
