Maybe some alternate land will be made available if its no longer going to be used? Tough call IMO.

Not many farmers could make a living around here if PG ends up on an economic diet and things get real skinny. Farmers need this ALR land used to keep PG alive as well. Farmers have too much invested in PG to go back to having a bath once a month.

The Wansa Road objection is another kettle of fish. Those people cleared 5 acre holes in the same area for themselves, made themselves happy, and don't want anyone else to do the same thing. Does not come across as a concern that has a great deal of validity.

They also have concerns about the connector road from 16 to 97 as the roads around PG are not maintained very well, so do we really need another road? Weird. At least they didn't claim to talk to the spirit of the bears and mother earth. But now that it has been said, will the ALR members vote to keep the Wansa Road residents in the style they have become accustomed by freezing other peoples lands for a mile around Wansa Road? Caution - stranger things have happened when the NDP apointies were in control.

If this doesn't get approved start selling.

"At least three farmers supported the exclusion from the Agricultural Land Reserve, one said that while there is a case to saving land for future generations, this is not the right land. He pointed out the soil on this property is too acidic for alfalfa, could only produce one crop of hay a year, and its use as a feed lot would be at odds with the residential neighbours."

Ah yes I have heard this all before.
Sorry Mr Farmer poor dirt doesn't exclude land from being good AL.
Just because it is agricultural land doesn't mean there has to be crops raised there that are planted in the ground.

Greenhouses are a real option.
Just think no more fruits and vegies shipped up from California.

Most farmers look after their soil with fertilizer etc to make it good.
So the poor dirt reason doesn't wash.

Time to build a HUGE pig barn. Then listen to the whining!
Lostfaith is probably not aware of the cost of fertilizer.
If this land can be farmed- why isn't it?

"If this land can be farmed- why isn't it?"

hmmmmm ....

If this land (put in any land area you wish) can be built on, why isn't it built on?

If this river can be dammed to create hydro electricity, why isn't it?

If the road betweeen Prince George and Vanderhoof can be four-laned, why isn't it?

Stupid questions when you start to think about it a bit, are they not?

The key answer is the same for all. The conditions are not ripe yet.

Look at how close those buildings are. Then relate it to the fire in PG yesterday and today. Then look at what those buildings will be used for - primarily warehouses if I am not mistaken.

Are the brains of those people posting on here who have failsafe systems,materials security and insurance rates in mind clicking on all cylinders yet?

;-)

Owl, I am surprised that you would have such a simplistic answer to 'why isn't this land farmed'.
Nothing has been built because until now, no one thought there would be a need. Maybe there is a need, maybe there isn't. You are right, they are stupid questions that have nothing to do with farming that land- or saying that land can only be used for farming.
The conditions are not right for farming? Why, is no one buying food?

"The conditions are not right for farming? Why, is no one buying food?"

Talk about being simplistic!!

Everyone who is not farming for themselves or does not have food given for them is buying food in one way or another.

Just like the tar sands, however, and timber and any other resource and commodity, we generally go for the easy to grab first. The oil just below the surface, the timber on the flat ground and close to habitation and transportation, the strawberries that can be grown in a field with cheap labour to pick them, etc. etc.

Our turn might come when there is a change. Example - sugar beets for ethanol, strawberries and tomatoes undr glass since fuel for tranportation becomes too expensive, etc. etc.

By that time the ALR will be built up. Oh well ..... chit out of luck, eh? or we will find some other way.

Trying to predict the future is the pits, isn't it?

Maybe we should be building the roofs of the warehouses in such a way that they can support greenhouse operations. The heatloss from the building below the greenhous will assist with heating the greenhouses. Or fill in the spaces between the buildings with greenhouses - two less building faces that loose heat. That way we can use the native soil if it actually is good enough for farming, can plant fruit trees that need more soil for roosts, and can use larger mechanized equipment as farming tools.

Suggest the unusual. Then start putting the details together to see if it can actually work. If it works, others will follow. If not, oh well, not as if we did not try.

They bridged the buildings on two sides of the street in Milan Italy some 150 years ago. Enclosed shopping malls came some 100 years later in North America.

http://www.magicphotoworld.com/foto/photos/49/103/galleria-v.-emanuele

I like your neat ideas owl.
That one about transportation costs really struck a chord with me. You are right, as the cost of fuel goes ever higher, it becomes more and more viable to set up the facilities here, like greenhouses for produce, and grow our food locally. Wow what a concept, sorta like back to the past, I would be extra pleased to be able to purchase (year round) local produce. Who really knows what has been done to the land or crops in Chile, Argentina, or even good old Cali-forn-i-eh? Pesticides etc.
metalman.

Posted by: red2b on May 27 2008 6:08 PM
Time to build a HUGE pig barn. Then listen to the whining!
Lostfaith is probably not aware of the cost of fertilizer.
If this land can be farmed- why isn't it?


Yes fertilizer is costly but I was trying to make a point.
Farmer Bud in Parksville on the island is trying to have his land removed from the ALR but the city won't allow it.
He is threatening a pig farm and has actually started construction.

Like I said at the start of this thread, greenhouses are a real option.
His land is in the middle of town

That is a great idea-build greenhouses!
You are right, leave that land in the ALR as it is the last land available in this area. With the price of fuel no one will be flying anyways. The land the airport is now on could even be broke up and used for agriculture. What a wonderful concept. If we all lived another 100 years we would not see that land produce anything worthwhile.
Now that the trees are gone we have "dirt huggers"

LMAO you are calling me a dirt hugger?
Too funny.
Personally I could care less about what happens to the land. I am just putting forth ideas. What ideas have you submitted here red2b???
Whatever happens with the land you know it will be whatever will make someone the richest from it.

red2b are you one of the landowners/farmers trying to sell your land here?
Come on don't be shy.

My ides would be to get the land out of the ALR and let the developers plan and promote the park. I am not one of the landowners.

Greenhouses are a great idea for this area. Probably a little more expensive to operate than a greenhouse down south, but we could use the City's "heating idea" to heat these greenhouses in the winter. I am no expert in this area, but a quick copy/paste with some info on greenhouses.

----------------

"As the world population continues to increase, and more agricultural land is lost to urban development, intensive food production in greenhouses may play a more important role in food production. Furthermore, improving economic conditions in developing countries and an increasing preoccupation with health and nutrition will increase demand for high-quality food products. Through controlled climate and reduced pesticide use, greenhouses can meet this consumer demand. Foods with improved health characteristics or containing nutraceuticals (substances with pharmaceutical or health-beneficial properties that can be extracted or purified from plants) can be grown pesticide-free in greenhouses.

Artificial lighting. In northern countries, high-tech greenhouses can provide optimal growing conditions (temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide) for vegetable crops even during the coldest winter months. However, even with excellent climate control, yield and quality of crops grown during these months are low due to the low light level available. Research has shown that it is possible to produce good yield of high-quality produce during the winter months by using artificial light to supplement the natural radiation. The most common artificial lighting is the high-pressure sodium lamp. The high cost of electric energy in many regions is the most important factor preventing an increased use of artificial light."

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I believe that this land should be removed from the ALR to get "the ball rolling" with future investment in this city. Nothing is going to happen over night and Prince George won't be a sprawling metropolis, but investors would be more inclined to invest in Prince George's future if they knew that there would be significant development projects like this. It's a start - build it and they will come? maybe.

Moving forward starts with ideas like this which may spawn other ideas/pipe dreams.