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Australian Ranch: A Way of Life and a Lump of Coal

By Peter Ewart

 










By Peter Ewart

There has been a lot of talk about oil and gas and coal in the Central and Northern Interior of British Columbia. In the wake of the pine beetle epidemic, the prospect of more mining and drilling in the area sounds very promising. Jobs. New industry. Prosperity. But wait a second. Before we start up the bulldozers, there is just one tiny little problem. People already live on much of this land and have been here a long time.

Take the case of the Australian Ranch which is eighteen miles south of Quesnel. Some big announcements were made last fall by West Hawk Development Corporation about starting up a coal mine and a coal gasification plant on the Ranch and other adjoining properties and farms. According to estimates, this site has coal deposits of more than a hundred million tons, and the proposed mine itself would have an annual production of 290,000 metric tonnes.

But in order to push through a project of this magnitude, a coal company has to take care of some important issues. And it appears West Hawk Development has not. First and foremost, it is a good idea for a coal company to get permission from and cooperation with the people who already live on the land. Second, it should make sure that it has clear title to the coal and mineral rights. West Hawk does not appear to have either.

The Australian Ranch has been operated for over 130 years in the same location. It is currently owned by the Yorston family. Other adjoining properties are owned by the Moffat and Jacques families. Lenore Yorston explains that her husband’s family has owned the ranch since 1903, and has “roots like you would not find anywhere else.”

It is understandable why Lenore, her husband Bob, and other family are so attached to the property. Some people might call it “God’s country”, high above the mighty Fraser River, with acres of green fields, bubbling sweet water springs and clean, pure air. The Yorstons have over 300 head of cattle, but also grow apples, grapes, pears and vegetables which, every week, in season, they take into the local Farmer’s Market in Quesnel. For Lenore, who was born and raised 2 km. north of the ranch, the life the family lives here is priceless. And they share that experience with others. Every Sunday in May, Lenore bakes delicious cinnamon buns and people come from miles around to buy them – all proceeds going to the Quesnel Cancer Society. In summer, they have a “corn maze” with hundreds of people visiting and touring the 1923 farmhouse and enjoying, as Lenore describes it, the “peace and wonderful atmosphere of farm life.” In a world filled with crime, pollution and all the other ills of civilization, this peaceful and beautiful spot is a sanctuary and a cherished way of life for all the families that have made it their home for over a hundred years.

But this idyllic picture was shattered last fall when the Yorston’s had three surprise visitors who showed up one day without an appointment and identified themselves as representatives of West Hawk Development. One of them, Dave Zirnhelt, was an especially big surprise. Zirnhelt, who also has been a ranch owner in the Cariboo, is best known for his role as Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Forests in the last NDP government. From the beginning, the trio played hardball, informing Lenore’s husband Bob that West Hawk has just acquired the coal rights to the area and that was all there was to it. Their beautiful ranch and the other properties that stretch along the Fraser were to be converted into a coal mine starting very soon.



The news hit the Yorston family and the other families like a bombshell. Their tranquil way of life was about to come to an abrupt end. West Hawk made no bones about what this would mean for the farm properties. According to a document that the Yorstons received from West Hawk, “mining operations will have significant visual, noise and dust impacts, on both these properties.” As Lenore puts it, “for health reasons alone … this mine would definitely force all of the people in the community to move.” There is a soft south breeze that the property has for most of the year which provides the warmth necessary for the fruit to grow on the farm. If the mine was established, this same south breeze would carry fine particulate coal dust across the property and northward, contaminating all in its way. In addition, run-off would ruin the springs and possibly cause slides into Australian Creek. Dave Zirnhelt’s participation in the coal mine promotion was particularly galling considering that, as Agriculture Minister in a previous government, he was expected to defend prime agricultural land from industrial encroachment.

West Hawk also rolled out a press campaign with big announcements on radio and several write ups in the print media. But the Yorstons are from pioneer stock and they don’t bluff easily. If you’ve ever wondered why you should keep that box of old documents laying around in the attic, here is an example that will inspire you to keep it for another fifty years. After the West Hawk people left, something jogged Bob’s memory and he decided to dig out some of the old and yellowed documents he had stored away from way back in the 1800s. Once they were dusted off and taken to the lawyers, it became clear - the coal rights did not belong to West Hawk, but rather to the Yorstons. West Hawk had no right to step one foot onto the property.

How had this happened? It was clear to the Yorstons that West Hawk had either not done its homework or was playing dumb for the purposes of bluffing. For its part, West Hawk blamed others, including the government for the “misunderstanding.”

However, as Lenore points out, “the battle was won, but not the war.” The Australian Ranch has about 1800 acres in total. But there was about 100 acres of it on the southern border that they did not have the coal rights for. In addition, the other property owners in the area did not have coal rights at all. West Hawk in another meeting made it clear to the Yorstons and the other property owners: if West Hawk was not allowed on the land, it would take the case to arbitration, which, according to West Hawk, it would win, and then go ahead with drilling, whether the property owners liked it or not.

Under sharp questioning, West Hawk indicated to the Yorstons and the other property owners that it might be willing to pay 10% above the assessed value for the properties in question. Later, however, this was modified to 10% to be paid over a number of years plus some to be paid in West Hawk shares. Another alternative West Hawk proposed was for it to lease the land, dig out the coal and then put the ranch property back just as they had found it. For the Yorstons, this was hard to understand. How do you take out 80 metres of overburden and another 30 metres of coal, and then return everything back to normal? It didn’t make sense to them.

In a recent letter to the Yorstons, a representative of West Hawk uses honeyed words to reassure them that all will be fine with the proposed mine. The representative starts off the letter by praising the Yorstons as “hard working and caring people” who he “respects very much.” He assures them that there will be settling ponds for surface runoff and coal washing, and that there will be “zero liquid waste discharge.” In addition, “through good engineering design and operating practices,” the coal dust will be kept “from escaping from the site.” How this statement reconciles with a previous statement (as noted above) that “mining operations will have significant visual, noise and dust impacts, on both these properties” is not made clear.

The representative also offers to fly the Yorstons to West Virginia “to show them how timely and effective the reclamation process can be.” Presumably, the tour will not include the Sago mine in West Virginia where 12 miners died several days ago in a terrible tragedy and where the Sago coal mining company recorded 208 safety violations in the previous year.

The Yorstons and the other property owners are not buying any of the West Hawk message. Indeed, they hope their experience will be a wake up call to other ranchers, farmers and property owners in the Interior whose land could now or in the future be coveted for oil, gas and coal operations. They also hope it will be a lesson to other mining companies about how to conduct themselves when dealing with people and communities. 





“We could sell our soul,” comments Lenore, “by selling out to this venture.” But she and her family prefer their way of life to a lump of coal. And she has got a point. It’s hard to argue with those lush green fields and that fragrant breeze blowing softly from the south. 






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