Pinnacle Tower Visualization

This web page is dedicated to exploring the issue of the proposed Pinnacle telecommunications tower. The tower was proposed in late 2004, supported by the mayor and town council and opposed by many citizens who organized a letter-writing campaign (see below). The tower project was finally dropped in early 2005.

NEWSFLASH! March 11, 2005. It is official -- the RENIR agency has determined that it does not need to use the Pinnacle for its telecommunications network. Instead, it will use existing towers.
La Voix de l'Est, le 18 mars, 2005. Page 4: Mont Pinacle: le projet d'antenne annulé. (Pinnacle tower project cancelled!)

Article in le Tour:

Mont Pinacle : le prix de la sécurité | Page 1 | Page 2 (Le Tour, Printemps 2005, Vol. 22, No. 3)

"... le Réseau national intégré de Radiocommunication (RENIR) a demandé à la MRC de renier ses priorités d'aménagement pour lui laisser carte blanche dans un secteur sensible afin d'y implanter une tour de 48 mètres. Le tout, sans avoir précisé où il compte s'installer exactement, ni à quoi ressenblera tout ça, et sans jamais répondre aux demandes d'information des médias ou du public concerné..."

[RENIR asked the MRC (Brome Missisquoi county) to repudiate its own land use and development regulations to allow RENIR the total freedom to erect a 48 m tower in a sensitive area. All this without having specified exactly what they plan to install, what it would look like, and without ever responding to requests for information from the media and the public...]

The Pinnacle Today

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This December 2004 photograph looks south toward the Little Pinnacle (or North Pinnacle) from Dymond Road in Frelighsburg, Quebec. In the background you can see the distinctive, darker profile of the largely coniferous summit of Mount Pinnacle. These "twin" mountains form an extraordinary natural treasure -- one of the last unspoiled landscapes in southern Quebec. Please visit the Pinnacle Photo Gallery to see a series of photos of the Pinnacle from different angles, in different seasons.

"RENIR" -- the Quebec agency behind the tower proposal

"RENIR" stands for Réseau national intégré en radiocommunication, roughly translated as the National Integrated Telecommunications Network. This October, 2004 article in Le Soleil describes the mission of this Quebec government agency which has proposed the Pinnacle tower. The idea for the RENIR project grew out of the ice-storm crisis of 1998, when the government began to focus on the need for reliable emergency-services communication. RENIR is now spending $135 million on a new province-wide network, to be completed by the end of 2006. The RENIR network does not provide personal cell phone service. RENIR will provide communications services for the police, firemen, ministry of transport, ambulances, and Hydro-Quebec, among others.

The November 2, 2004 Resolution

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The original resolution passed by the Town of Frelighsburg on Nov. 2, 2004, calling for a zoning change to allow a tower to be erected in the Pinnacle zone, in order to facilitate communications for emergency services (not for personal cell phone service). There was no announcement or public discussion of this issue before the Mayor and Councillors voted unanimously to pass it.

The Little Pinnacle with the Proposed Telecommunications Tower

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This computer-enhanced digital photograph shows a tower on the Little Pinnacle. This kind of image-manipulation technology can be used to help explore the visual and environmental consequences of erecting a communications tower. The tower inserted into this image is a copy of one that exists on a hill a few miles northwest of Sutton. The scaling of the tower is approximate since the proposed tower's final height is unknown, although the original resolution suggests it would be 48 meters high. Those groups (telecommunication corporations and, in this case, the government) which are proposing towers should be required to demonstrate to the local community the precise visual consequences of each proposal, using digital visualization technology.

Not shown in this simulation is the access road that would have to be cut through the woods to the peak of the hill. This road would have to be wide and permanent enough for construction cranes, concrete delivery trucks, and various maintenance vehicles. The road would be lined with telephone poles and electric wires. Also not shown are the long diagonal guy wires which would be necessary to stabilize the tower from all sides (see Sutton tower below). This creates a clear-cut zone of several acres, in order to maintain the guy wires. There would also be chain-link fence enclosure and security lights at the maintenace building at the base of the tower. Not to mention the flashing red warning light that would be mounted at the top of the tower, visible at night from miles away.

Note that the Mayor of Frelighsburg has never publicly stated that he would rule out the erection of a tower on the very summit of the big Pinnacle itself. In fact, his ambiguous statement creates the impression that he would favour it in certain circumstances: "... si un des flancs de la montagne offre des possibilités intéressantes, il est hors de question d'utiliser le sommet du mont Pinacle..." [...if one of the flanks of the mountain offers interesting possibilities it would be out of the question to use the sommit of the Pinnacle..."

Lettres ouvertes / Letters To The Editor (le Guide)...

These articles and letters have been scanned from the pages of Le Guide, a local bilingual newspaper published in Cowansville, as well as La Voix de l'Est, of Granby.

Dec. 04, 04. Pas de paix pour le Pinacle! (le Guide)
"...Quant à ceux qui se sentent plus en sécurité au pied d'un sommet vierge que dominés par une tour de radiocommunication, qu'ils s'en trouvent une autre montagne vierge. Comment ça, y'en a plus?..."
Dec. 09, 04. LEVÉE DE BOUCLIERS -- Le gouvernement veut ériger une tour sur le mont Pinacle. | Cover | (La Voix de l'Est)
"...Le mont Pinacle aura besoin, une fois de plus, de l'aide de tous ceux qui l'aiment grandeur nature..."
Dec. 11, 04. RE: Installation of a telecommunications antenna on Mt. Pinacle in spring 2005 (Letter by Dr. Charlotte Davies to public officials, also published March 5, 2005 in Le Guide)
"...to approach this issue as a choice between "safety" and "beauty" shows a complete lack of understanding of what Mt. Pinacle means -- valuing short-term needs over that which, when truly considered in the long-term, is irreplaceable and will be irreparably harmed..."
Dec. 11, 04. Ne touchez pas au Pinacle! (le Guide)
"...Nous vivons une pénible période où les gouvernements insécurisent la population, où tous les jours, onnous parle de sécurité. C'est devenu une obsession, un abus de pouvoir, le mal du siècle auquel il faut résister..."
Dec. 18, 04. Pinacle: le site n'est pas choisi! (le Guide)
"...le site n'est pas encore choisi et si un des flancs de la montagne offre des possibilités intéressantes, il est hors de question d'utiliser le sommet du mont Pinacle..."
Dec. 18, 04. Nous désirons la paix! (le Guide)
C'est peut-être le dernier sommet proche de nous et viege de ce genre d'agression visuelle. C'ets lui qu'il faut protéger de toute implantation..."
Dec. 25, 04. Pinnacle: l'érection d'une tour sera bénéfique pour tous (le Guide)
"...Si le Gouvernement approuve l'éréction de la tour en question, je remercie le Bon Dieu pour toutes les petites faveurs..."
Dec. 25, 04. Let's get the tower up to help everybody (le Guide)
"...No worse than the huge antennae on top of Mount Orford where people get to use the cell phones and watch T.V. on account of it..."
Jan. 01, 05. Hands Off Mount Pinnacle! (le Guide)
The Pinnacle "...fills the desire of numerous citizens who come for a family outing, to admire the scenic beuaty of its environment or, for some, to enjoy an oasis of peace conducive to meditation..."
Jan. 08, 05. Cell phone tower: let's learn from the experience of others (le Guide)
"...We can have cell phone communications without destroying one of the area's natural treasures, we just have to be smarter about it. Progressive communities all over the world have been developing strategies for incorporating cell phone service without destroying the beauty of their natural environments..."
Jan. 08, 05. Tour de transmission: faison preuve d'un peu d'imagination! (le Guide)
"..Ne nous précipitons donc pas et donnons ses chances à l’étude sérieuse de ces nombreuses initiatives. Elles peuvent nous fournir l’occasion de développer une solution locale originale sans répéter aveuglément les mêmes vieilles erreurs qui ont défiguré de façon permanente tant d’autres paysages..."
Feb. 12, 05. Installation d'une antenne de télécommunication sur le Pinacle (le Guide)
"...C'est dans cet esprit que je tiens à souligner que la valeur du mont Pinacle pour la communauté dépasse de loin son simple caractère esthétique ou récréatif. Pour les habitants, les touristes qui visitent la région...la signification de la montagne réside précisément dans le fait qu'elle n'ait pas été perturbée ou défigurée par le développement..."
Feb. 23, 05. Mont Pinacle : le prix de la sécurité | Page 2 (Le Tour, Printemps 2005, Vol. 22, No. 3)
"... En attendant, le Réseau national intégré de Radiocommunication (RENIR) a demandé à la MRC de renier ses priorités d'aménagement pour lui laisser carte blanche dans un secteur sensible afin d'y implanter une tour de 48 mètres. Le tout, sans avoir précisé où il compte s'installer exactement, ni à quoi ressenblera tout ça, et sans jamais répondre aux demandes d'information des médias ou du public concerné..."

Now it's your turn! Let your elected representatives know what you think about this issue. Here are some of their addresses: Click here for the addresses of

Thomas J. Mulcair, Ministre de l’Environnement
Rhéal Raymond, Maire de Frelighsburg
Michel Beauchesne, Directeur du Service de la Gestion du territoire
Pierre Paradis, Député de Brome-Missisquoi
Denis Paradis, Député Fédéral de Brome-Missisquoi

The Pinnacle and the Little Pinnacle in 1881

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This 1881 map shows how Mount Pinnacle and the Little Pinnacle were considered to be "twin" mountains, part of the same geological formation and the same natural landscape. Putting a tower on the slightly lower Little Pinnacle should be as unthinkable as putting one on the higher summit.

The Mystic Cell Phone Tower

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This extremely tall communications tower was erected recently just north of Mystic, Quebec. Note the size of the service building. The tower is so tall that the layout of guy wire anchorages is extremely wide. This means that several acres of land must be kept clear in perpetuity.

The Sutton Cell Phone Tower

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This very tall communications tower was erected a few years ago, just to the northwest of the town of Sutton. Note the multiple guy wires, the wide access road, the security gates, the telephone poles, electrical supply, etc. This installation is visible at night throughout the Sutton area as a strong red flashing light.