By Elders’ Council for Parks in British Columbia
Under-funded, understaffed, and with infrastructure that is increasingly unsafe, British Columbia’s provincial park system is in drastic need of a reboot.
Master plans have been promised, but never delivered. Trails have been proposed but never built, or built but never maintained. Budgets have fallen desperately behind as the population – and demand for outdoor recreation opportunities – has exploded.
In an open letter to the leaders of the political parties running for election, the Elders Council for Parks in British Columbia recently called for a change of direction; “The current state of BC Parks is unhealthy. Aging infrastructure is in a state of disrepair, and in some cases unsafe. There is a dire need for informed, participatory management planning for many parks that is long overdue.”
The letter made four key demands:
- First, the provincial park budget should be significantly increased to provide better maintenance, additional park opportunities and park management.
- BC Parks, which manages over 1,000 parks and protected areas, has a smaller budget than Metro Vancouver, which manages 23 regional parks and conservation areas.
- Not surprisingly, BC’s provincial park system has begun to literally fall apart.
- “Use caution when travelling over creek crossings. Bridges and boardwalks are in poor condition,” warns the BC Parks webpage for Pinecone Burke, a provincial park that sits on Vancouver’s doorstep, just 40 kms from the downtown core.
The park, a magnificent area of old-growth forests, remnant ice fields, dramatic mountains, meadows and lakes, was established in 1995 when the population of Metro Vancouver was 1.7 million. Today, with a population approaching 3 million, the park infrastructure remains undeveloped and in need of repair. A master plan for Pinecone Burke was promised in 2016. It is still pending even though nearby parks are badly overcrowded. So overcrowded that visitors to Golden Ears, Garibaldi and Mt Seymour parks, during peak use seasons, have to apply online and, if there is sufficient space, obtain day use passes to go for a walk in the woods.
While demand has increased dramatically because of population growth and a renewed interest in the healthy outdoors driven by the COVID epidemic, BC Parks have been in decline across the province.
- The second request made by the Elders Council is that British Columbians should have priority when booking campsites.
If you want to go camping in the Lower Mainland, it is often difficult to find an available site as 95% of the sites can be reserved four months in advance. When BC residents go online to book, they often find all the campsites are taken. In the US National Park system, best practices allow a percentage of campsites to be released closer to real time, two days, enabling a greater opportunity for everyone to reserve a site. And more campsites are clearly needed to meet the demand.
- The third point is that all British Columbians must have the opportunity to have a say in the designation and management of parks and protected areas.
A Federal and Provincial conservation initiative is presently underway with the goal of conserving 30 percent of Canada’s land and water by 2030. In BC, that means a further 12 percent of province is to be set aside. Although Indigenous governments are partners in the decisions, BC Parks has no role and the general public has no formal input in the 30 by 30 initiative.
To ensure land use decisions are meaningful and to support reconciliation, the public must be part of the discussions on the future of Crown land. This wider equitable participation will further reconciliation, by establishing broad public support for the resulting land use decisions, through dialogue, concessions and increased understanding. The public should be part of all discussions towards designating new protected areas.
- The fourth and final point made by the Elders Council is that the Park Act must be reformed to strengthen parks and protected areas.
British Columbia is globally recognized for its ecological treasures. Some of the last stands of giant old growth forest in the world. Mist-shrouded islands, estuaries alive with salmon, birds and bears, snow-capped mountains, pristine lakes and raging rivers.
Provincial parks were envisioned as portals – drawing people to the outdoors, where they could experience nature, set up a tent or trailer, enjoy a picnic, swim in a lake, or hike to alpine meadows.
British Columbia needs to do a much better job of protecting the magnificent parks that it has, it needs to expand the park system and conserve ecosystems, and it needs to repair and maintain the infrastructure meant to help people enjoy the outdoors. That’s not happening and it needs to change.
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The Elders Council for Parks in British Columbia is mostly retired government and non-government people who have a deep understanding and compassion for the well-being of the Province’s national, provincial and regional parks.