Making Recreational Space: Citizen Involvement in Outdoor Recreation and Park Establishment in British Columbia, 1900-2000 by Jenny Clayton B.A., University of Victoria, 1999 M.A., University of New Brunswick, 2001 A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in the Department of History © Jenny Clayton, 2009 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This dissertation may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopying or other means, without the permission of the author. Library and Archives Bibliothèque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de l’édition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-60718-3 Our file Notre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-60718-3 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non- L’auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant à la Bibliothèque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par télécommunication ou par l’Internet, prêter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des thèses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, à des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non- support microforme, papier, électronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L’auteur conserve la propriété du droit d’auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protège cette thèse. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la thèse ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent être imprimés ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author’s permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformément à la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privée, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont été enlevés de thesis. cette thèse. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n’y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. ii Making Recreational Space: Citizen Involvement in Outdoor Recreation and Park Establishment in British Columbia, 1900-2000 by Jenny Clayton B.A., University of Victoria, 1999 M.A., University of New Brunswick, 2001 Supervisory Committee Dr. Patricia E. Roy, Co-Supervisor (Department of History) Dr. Lorne F. Hammond, Co-Supervisor (Department of History) Dr. Richard Rajala, Departmental Member (Department of History) Dr. Jeremy Wilson, Outside Member (Department of Political Science) iii Supervisory Committee Dr. Patricia E. Roy, Co-Supervisor (Department of History) Dr. Lorne F. Hammond, Co-Supervisor (Department of History) Dr. Richard Rajala, Departmental Member (Department of History) Dr. Jeremy Wilson, Outside Member (Department of Political Science) ABSTRACT Studies of outdoor recreation and the social construction of wilderness have shown how urban consumption of wilderness areas dispossessed rural residents from traditional land uses. Though essential for understanding power struggles over land use, these studies pay little attention to rural involvement in creating recreational areas. In contrast, this dissertation focuses on how rural non-indigenous people used, enjoyed and constructed their own recreational hinterland. Set in twentieth-century British Columbia, where wilderness adventure is popular and where mountains, oceans and lakes lend themselves to romantic and sublime aesthetics, the case studies here examine rural recreation by considering the forms that “rural” has taken in British Columbia, the relationship of civil society to government, conceptions of Crown and private land as a commons, the production and consumption of recreational spaces, and ethics such as woodcraft, “leave-no-trace,” the “good life” and postmaterialism. The sources include interviews with participants in these activities and archival sources such as diaries, newspapers, government records on parks, forestry and iv transportation, and letters that citizens wrote to government. This material is set within the context of historical studies of outdoor recreation, the social construction of wilderness, automobiles and parks, the informal economy, and the contested commons. The first two case studies involve the imaginative transformation of mountain landscapes into parks and playgrounds to attract tourists at Mt. Revelstoke and on Vancouver Island’s Forbidden Plateau. During the Second World War, the province was reluctant to create parks for local recreation, but at Darke Lake in the Okanagan, the Fish and Game Club lobbied successfully for a small park, challenging the supremacy of logging as an essential war industry. After the war, the state’s view of parks shifted. The provincial government promoted recreational democracy, and offered parks as part of the “good life” to working families from booming single-industry towns, sometimes responding to local demands as in the case of the Champion Lakes. Inspired by the American Wilderness Act of 1964, some British Columbians sought to preserve large tracts of roadless, forested land. The Purcell Wilderness Conservancy (1974) in the Kootenay region resulted from a local trail-building effort and a letter-writing campaign. Beginning in the late 1980s, retirees in Powell River started building trails on the edges of town. This group is still active in ensuring that their forested hinterland remains an accessible commons for recreational use. The rural British Columbians discussed in these case studies consistently engaged with the backcountry as their recreational commons where they could combine work and leisure, harvest non-timber forest products, and promote tourism. Rural residents who were willing to volunteer and enjoyed some leisure time forged networks among tourism promoters and applied for government funding to create access to recreational space, and v protect it from uses inconsistent with recreation, such as logging. British Columbians have claimed the right to access Crown land as a commons for recreation in a variety of ways over the twentieth century and these case studies show how rural agency has played a significant role in creating recreational space. vi Table of Contents Supervisory Committee……………………………………………………………. ii Abstract…………………………………………………………………………… iii Table of Contents………………………………………………………………….. vi List of Tables ……………………………………………………………………… vii List of Maps………………………………………………………………………...viii List of Photographs………………………………………………………………… ix Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………… x Chapter 1: Introduction……………………………………………………………………1 Chapter 2: Progressivism, Citizenship, and Revelstoke’s National Park, 1906-1920…...34 Chapter 3: The Forbidden Plateau: Interwar Playground, Commodity, and Commons…67 Chapter 4: “Something the Public Wants for Itself:” A Wartime Provincial Park……..101 Chapter 5: Recreational Democracy and Postwar Lake Parks………………………….124 Chapter 6: Preserving Wilderness in the West Kootenays, 1969-1975………………...156 Chapter 7: Volunteer Trail and Bridge Builders in Powell River since 1988………….205 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...235 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………... 248 Appendix: Copyright Permissions…………………………………………………….. 269 vii List of Tables Table 6.1: Electoral History of Kootenay Region, 1969-1975………………….184 Table 6.2: Origins of Letters Protesting Fry Creek Logging Road……………...191 viii List of Maps Map 2.1: Sketch of Location of Mt. Revelstoke Motor Road, July 1912………… 54 Map 3.1: The Forbidden Plateau ………………………………………………… 69 Map 4.1: Location of Eneas and Darke (Fish) Lake Park…………………............ 110 Map 4.2: Eneas Lake Park and Darke (Fish) Lake Park………………………...... 117 Map 5.1: Location of Champion Lakes, West Kootenays…………………………126 Map 5.2: Location of Lakelse Lake, Northwest Coast…………………………….127 Map 6.1: Purcell Wilderness Conservancy ………………………………………. 162 Map 7.1: Powell River Trail Networks…………………………………………….208 ix List of Photographs Picture 3.1: Plateau Landscape……………………………………………………..71 Picture 3.2: Harry Dougan’s Packboard…………………………………………… 88 Picture 3.3: Blueberries on the Forbidden Plateau………………………………… 90 Picture 6.1: The Earl Grey Trail Building Crew …………………………………... 176 Picture 6.2: Trail Builders at a Camp along the Trail……………………………….178 Picture 6.3: Fry Creek Looking towards Kootenay Lake………………………...... 187 Picture 6.4: Fry Creek Canyon…………………………………………………….. 197 Picture 7.1: Decking on Squirrel Crossing Bridge ………………………………... 225 Picture 7.2: Squirrel Crossing Bridge……………………………………………… 226 Picture 7.3: Edge’s Way Bridge …………………………………………………... 227 Picture 7.4: Handrail at Edge’s Way………………………………………………. 227 Picture 7.5: Kelly Falls…………………………………………………………….. 228 x Acknowledgements The support and assistance of numerous individuals has been essential to the completion of this dissertation. Thanks to those who ignited my interest in outdoor recreation and made it possible for me to visit inspiring landscapes, including, but not limited to, Richard Boisvert who drove our elementary school classes to Strathcona Park Lodge, Diane Fedoruk for the cycle touring trips, and Victoria’s