a century ago, in a stroke of idealism ice and granite spires of the Bugaboo region and the misty coastal and foresight, politicians established a park in the wild and rug- valleys of the Fiordlands Conservancy: together parks represent ged heart of Vancouver Island – Strathcona Provincial Park – the an astounding diversity of ecosystem and landscape that British genesis of British Columbia’s provincial parks system that today is Columbians are unabashedly proud of, and feel a deep sense of the envy of the world. However, on this centennial anniversary year duty to protect. of the establishment of BC Parks – the government caretaker of When pondering the role of parks and wilderness at the turn of the lands – few conservationists are ready to pop the champagne the 19th century, the great Scottish-born naturalist John Muir said corks. Peer behind the impressive patches of green that denote that everybody “needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and parks on the provincial map, and pray in, where nature may heal and the view is sobering, if not alto- give strength to body and soul.” To gether dire: shrinking budgets, Muir, these places were more sacred dwindling staff and neglected trails than cathedrals, and Gwen Barlee, a plague BC Parks. At the same time, parks policy expert with the Western government is quietly pushing an Canada Wilderness Committee agenda to allow more private high- (WCWC), believes BC is desecrating end lodges and other revenue-gen- the cathedrals. She says BC’s parks erating free enterprise schemes, have never needed stronger advo- creating perhaps the most serious philosophical crisis facing our cates than they do now. In 2007, when WCWC compared British parks and the essence of the province itself: will the park system Columbia’s track record on parks with the three other western remain a truly public resource funded by all and open to all, or will provinces and Washington State, BC emerged as a rock star when it it succumb to a narrower vision where public access and conserva- came to establishing parks and protected areas, but that’s where the tion get second shift to corporate exploitation? good news ended. In the park management and funding catego- BC’s parks are the soul of the province, the topographical ries, the province fl amed out badly. BC Parks, which falls within embodiment of the well-worn “Super, Natural British Columbia” the environment ministry, had an annual budget of $33 million or brand. And there is one undeniable positive: we are blessed with $2.52 per hectare, and a ratio of one full-time ranger per 204,531 bounty – close to 1,000 parks and protected areas totalling 13 hectares. Comparatively, Manitoba was funding its 3.9 million million hectares, an area equal in size to Greece. The lava fi elds of hectares of parks to the tune of $5.72 per hectare, with one ranger the Nisga’a Valley, the golden grasslands of the Okanagan, the blue for every 68,193 hectares. Even if Manitoba has less than one third

50 KMC summer 2011 National British Washington Parks Columbia Alberta Saskatchewan Manitoba State

Number of parks 42 National Parks* 852 504 196 97 120 Hectares protected 27,000,000 13,090,000 2,700,000 1,400,000 3,955,200 105,222 Annual budget $532,000,000 $33,000,000 $46,000,000 $20,000,00 $22,627,200 $61,000,000 Dollars per hectare $19.70 $2.52 $17.03 $14.28 $5.72 $579 Staff 4,200 179 432 252 312 610 Staff per hectare 1/6,428 1/73,128 1/6,250 1/5,555 1/12,677 1/172

Park rangers 425 64 105 18 58 235 (full-time equivalents) Rangers per hectare 1/63,529 1/204,531 1/25,714 1/77,777 1/68,193 1/144 Ranger per park ratio 2.1/1 1/13.3 1/4.8 1/10.8 1/1.7 1.95/1 Visitors (annual) 28,000,000 18,300,000 8,500,000 2,400,000 5,171,078 38,000,000 Ranger per visitor ratio 1/65,882 1/282,937 1/80,952 1/133,333 1/89,157 1/161,702

From “Western Canada’s Provincial Parks: How Does BC Measure Up?” Summer/Fall 2007, Courtesy of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee

of the total protected area British Columbia does, the comparison sad. Last August, John Doyle, British Columbia’s Auditor General, ‘Super, Natural BC’ and ‘The Best Place on Earth’ were from parks. funding. That’s why Kelly says the Clayoquot proposal represents paints a grim provincial picture of park stewardship. released a critical report called Conservation of Ecological Integrity in So it’s bizarre that we’re seeing the impoverishment of a public the thin edge of what he calls “a larger privatization agenda,” a nar- Incredibly, the situation has worsened since WCWC did its 2007 B.C. Parks and Protected Areas. His conclusion: “Despite its declared asset to the point that it makes private sector involvement inevi- row vision that treats each park as a self-supporting business unit comparison, and BC Parks is continually being asked to do more intentions and clear vision to conserve the ecological integrity in table,” Barlee says. that will see more parks carved up into mini-fi efdoms of private with less. The budget has shrunk to $28 million per year, and there these areas, the Ministry of Environment is not meeting this goal.” And privatization is exactly what the Friends of Strathcona tourism with the development of lodges and resorts within their are now only 10 full-time equivalent park rangers for the whole In its response, the environment ministry said implementing the Park (FOSP) are concerned about most these days. Strathcona is borders. So in a sort of take-back-the-park gesture, FOSP organized province, a number WCWC acquired only after fi ling an Access to Auditor General’s recommendations for “increases in inventory, the province’s fi rst and oldest park, born from a pioneering 1910 a volunteer work party last summer to refurbish old trails in the Information request. It’s no surprise government was reluctant to monitoring and planning work could cost as much as $155 mil- expedition into the mountains of Vancouver Island, led by a beefy, Strathcona’s Bedwell Valley for public use. cough up this stat; Barlee says she’s heard stories of rangers strug- lion over the next decade” and that continued land acquisitions not particularly outdoorsy-looking politician named Price Ellison. “We have no option but to step in and do park maintenance for gling to scrape together enough government twoonies just to gas “could add another $200 million to that cost.” Clearly a government If, when it was created, Strathcona was meant to be a cathedral of free until government steps in with funding,” Kelly says from the up work trucks. in cost-cutting mode had little appetite for these long-term park conservation, cracks started appearing before the mortar had dried. backyard of his rural Comox Valley home. “We basically told parks For more perspective on the BC Parks budget meltdown, con- commitments. Nearly every threat parks have faced since their inception has been that we were going to do it with or without their permission. We’re sider the contrasted situation with parks in Metro Vancouver. In Even setting aside the ecological benefi ts of parks – clean water, played out within this seminal park’s borders. okay with that approach because these are the people’s parks.” 2011, the Greater Vancouver Regional District, which provides clean air, biodiversity, species protection – and the intangibles of First it was mining interests eroding Strathcona’s boundar- It’s a brash and highly symbolic statement by the Comox Valley- services to 24 different local authorities in the Lower Mainland, John Muir-esque soulful rejuvenation and wilderness adventure, ies, followed by logging in the 1930s and 40s. The 1950s brought based conservation group. The message’s subtext to government is budgeted $34.8 million for its 22 regional parks, four regional park Barlee is baffl ed that government continues to neglect a resource hydroelectricity development within the park to feed the pulp, clear: if you gut the budget, then quietly court proposals for rev- reserves, two ecological conservancy areas and fi ve regional green- that is an economic boon to the province. “People come from paper and lumber mills in Campbell River. In the winter of 1988, enue-generating permits from private interests, we’ll simply assume ways, which together total 13,650 hectares and are staffed with 164 around the world to see our provincial parks. It’s the goose that lays FOSP Director Kel Kelly was one of 64 people arrested at a blockade rightful ownership of the parks, or “the people’s parks,” as Kelly is full time equivalent employees. Metro Vancouver’s parks budget is the golden egg, but government is killing this goose,” says Barlee preventing Cream Silver Mines from drilling exploratory holes in a fond of saying. nearly $7 million more than what the environment ministry allo- from her Vancouver offi ce. park which government arbitrarily downgraded to permit resource cates for a provincial parks system one thousand times larger. And extraction. FOSP won this battle. The most recent fi ght – and Kelly the wilderness Tourism Association, which represents instead of slashing parks funding, Metro Vancouver has been boost- a government study from 2001 entitled Economic believes the most fundamentally important one – has been over the Clayoquot Wilderness Resort and close to 80 other members, has a ing it. Since 2006, the budget has been increased almost 25 per cent Benefi ts of British Columbia’s Provincial Parks, made a convinc- possible granting of special tenures for high-end tourism operators. different take on the issue. The WTA agrees parks funding has sunk and staffi ng levels bumped up by 20 per cent to its current levels. ing argument for robust funding. For every tax dollar invested in Clayoquot Wilderness Resort, which charges guests up to $1,500 to woeful levels but says there is an alarmist’s misconception among Conversely, the provincial government has been dabbling in parks, visitors spend $10 in the British Columbian economy. But a day, wants to develop trails and other infrastructure to enable environmental groups that commercial tourism operators are out short-sighted efforts to milk BC Parks for revenue. In 2003, the the Ministry of Environment says the numbers are outdated and no horseback tours in Strathcona’s Bedwell Valley as part of an operat- to destroy parks for easy profi t. In a policy paper, the WTA argues fi rst-term BC Liberals started charging between $3 and $5 parking longer relevant. Since its publication, the study has vanished from ing permit that could last 30 years. well-managed commercial tourism can “enhance ecosystem integrity fees at 41 popular provincial parks. Just a few years into the scheme, the ministry website. Barlee, along with many of her conservation- At fi rst glance it seems like an innocuous proposal: a few trails, and health, improve trails and access, educate visitors and manage it already appeared to be a failed experiment; another FOI request ist colleagues, say although the numbers may be different, there’s no some shelters, what’s the big deal? And indeed there are many prec- visitor activities,” while allowing new people to experience parks. fi led by Gwen Barlee at WCWC revealed that visitors to parks with reason to believe the thrust has changed: invest in parks and they’ll edents for private enterprise in parks, Manning Park Resort and Jan Neuspiel is an independent mountain and ski guide based in parking meters dropped by one million visitors. return dividends to the province many times the original investment. Tweedsmuir Park Lodge to name just two. But these private devel- Cumberland, BC, and he is watching the fi ght over tourism tenures The conservation side of the BC Parks equation is similarly “During the Winter Olympics most of the images around opment tenures were never intended as substitutes for solid parks with interest. To him, there’s a big difference between a private

summer 2011 KMC 53 business building facilities and trails in a public park and what with power transmission lines bisecting the new protected areas, he does – pay BC Parks for a permit that allows him to lead trips suggesting that conservation is still a moving target on the coast. As into Strathcona. It’s what you might call a take-only-pictures-and- for the ongoing trophy hunting of grizzlies in provincial parks, like leave-only-footprints form of commercial tourism. Neuspiel has the Purcell Wilderness Conservancy, McCrory calls it “despicable.” also witnessed a steady erosion of services, from the maintenance When it comes to the push for private development in parks, he of basic trail and backcountry camping facilities to the presence, or says unequivocally, “I think it’s criminal.” diminishing presence, of park rangers. What is the future for BC Parks? Will it be something citizens “Strathcona is a big part of what we offer. People want to go into 100 years from now will be proud of? It’s hard to know exactly the park because it’s a big, intact core of wilderness,” says Neuspiel, what government thinks. A request for an interview with the who lives a half-hour drive from trails that lead into the heart of Ministry of Environment was denied. Colin Grewar, a communi- this mountain wilderness. “I have seen a decline in support and an cations staffer with the environment ministry, says government is increase in user fees. The days of the professional, knowledgeable “fi rmly committed to having one of the best parks and protected ranger seem to be over, and now you basically just have summer programs in North America but must make diffi cult decisions students replacing toilet paper in frontcountry outhouses.” based how best to spend taxpayer dollars during challenging Will Hastings was a seasonal park ranger on Vancouver Island economic times.” He goes on to say that any proposal for private but quit six years ago. His ideal summer job – clearing deadfall from fi xed-roof accommodation in parks “is subject to a publicly vet- trails, fi xing outhouses, meeting people in the backcountry, among ted management plan and must run through the BC Parks Impact other duties – was tainted by a dysfunctional government bureau- Assessment Process.” The words ring hollow to many, however, cracy who he says was run by managers handcuffed by funding cuts considering that politicians awarded BC Parks with a 100th anni- and unable to make decisions. That’s why he believes the province’s versary budget cut last February. fl agship park, Strathcona, would be in much worse shape if it wasn’t Even during Barry Penner’s tenure as environment minister two for volunteers like FOSP, who are as tenacious as terriers. years ago, himself a former park ranger, BC Parks suffered steady The same could be said for Valhalla Provincial Park, that budget cuts. It’s not all bad news; at its core British Columbia’s sys- spectacular Kootenay wilderness tem of parks and protected areas, reaching from the primal forests from mountaintop to lush coastal on the western shore of Slocan estuary to arid grasslands, is price- Lake to the granite peaks of Gimli less. But as WCWC’s Gwen Barlee and Wolf’s Ear. Valhalla was born says, it’s not enough to create “paper in 1983, following a nine-year parks”; there needs to be strong fol- conservation campaign waged by low-through operational funding. activists, such as Wayne McCrory A good start, she says, would be to and his late sister Colleen. In 2009, the Valhalla Wilderness Society double the budget to $60 million, a pittance considering taxpayers (VWS) raised $1.5 million, including a $300,000 contribution from paid 10 times that to upgrade the Sea-to-Sky superhighway for the BC Parks, to purchase the fi nal piece of the Valhalla Park puzzle, Olympics, not to mention the billion dollar-plus bill for the games. a 63-hectare tract of private land along Slocan Lake known as the Parks don’t just happen; they emerge from painful struggles, “Valhalla Mile.” and the often oversimplifi ed jobs-versus-environment paradigm, At an event celebrating this crowning land addition, bear biolo- fraught with compromise, politics and social tension. Citizens fi ght gist and founding member of VWS Wayne McCrory announced to create parks, then they fi ght to defend them. Sometimes in the that citizens had “again stood up for the protection of the park. Our process, they engage in civil disobedience and are hauled away in Valhalla Park.” Now two years later, McCrory says it’s also impor- police cars. Yet predictably, when the blockades have disappeared, tant, on BC Parks’ 100th anniversary, to acknowledge a “world-class court injunctions have been rescinded and parks have been cre- PEOPLE COME FROM AROUND park system” that continues to grow. New parks created out of the ated, politicians arrive for the photo ops and ribbon cuttings, trad- THE WORLD TO SEE OUR PROVINCIAL Kootenay/Boundary Regional Land Use Plan include gems like Goat ing on the Super, Natural BC image while simultaneously slashing PARKS. IT’S THE GOOSE THAT LAYS Range, Granby, Gladstone and West Arm. Fifty-fi ve new conser- the miniscule budget of parks and encouraging private develop- vancies were established under the 2006 Great Bear Rainforest ment to raise cash. THE GOLDEN EGG, BUT GOVERNMENT Agreement, now belonging to a network of 120 protected areas on In an article last summer, Stephen Hume, Vancouver Sun col- IS KILLING THIS GOOSE. the central and north coast. A highlight for McCrory is the addition umnist and chronicler of many a British Columbian conserva- – GWEN BARLEE, WE STERN CANA of Khutzeymateen Inlet Conservancy, greatly increasing protection of tion battle, refl ected on that seminal moment 100 years ago when DA bear habitat in the Khutzeymateen/K’tzim-a-Deen Grizzly Sanctuary. Strathcona Provincial Park was born: “Most of the province was WILDERNESS COMMITTEE As exciting as these conservation victories are, McCrory’s park uninhabited wilderness,” he wrote. “It took a special kind of vision- celebrations are muted. Though nearly 14 per cent of British ary to foresee the need for parks a century in the future, as it will Columbia is protected, he says that falls short of the mark when take another kind of visionary to foresee the parkland demands of a it comes to species and habitat protection. Except for a few large hundred years from now.” parks, like 981,000-hectare Tweedsmuir, the province’s largest, or the It will also take a visionary government today to stop treating parks of the Muskwa-Kechika Management Area in the province’s parks like a forgotten stepchild at the end of the table with an northeast, most are too small, isolated and disconnected to safeguard empty plate. After all, we are what we eat. wide-ranging species, like grizzlies and mountain caribou, that don’t thrive in fragmented habitat. “That means we could have a world- Vancouver Island-based freelance writer Andrew Findlay remembers class park system where species are still going extinct,” says McCrory. being stuffed between older siblings on the red leather seats of the McCrory has other concerns. He says the ink was barely dry on family station wagon during epic summer road trips to far-fl ung the Great Bear Rainforest Agreement, and government was already chunks of BC wilderness. His dear old dad loved parks and wild considering independent power projects and wind turbine farms places, and he involved his famly in this love affair. I'm going to reshoot with this PQ taped 54 KMC to coversummer 2011of mag summer 2011 KMC 55