PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA DEPARTMENT OF RECREATION AND CONSERVATION HON. ROBERT A. WILLIAMS, Minister LLOYD BROOKS, Deputy Minister REPORT OF THE Department of Recreation and Conservation containing the reports of the GENERAL ADMINISTRATION, FISH AND WILDLIFE BRANCH, PROVINCIAL PARKS BRANCH, BRITISH COLUMBIA PROVINCIAL MUSEUM, AND COMMERCIAL FISHERIES BRANCH Year Ended December 31 1972 Printed by K. M. MACDONALD, Printer to tbe Queen's Most Excellent Majesty in right of the Province of British Columbia. 1973 \ VICTORIA, B.C., February, 1973 To Colonel the Honourable JOHN R. NICHOLSON, P.C., O.B.E., Q.C., LLD., Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of British Columbia. MAY IT PLEASE YOUR HONOUR: Herewith I beg respectfully to submit the Annual Report of the Department of Recreation and Conservation for the year ended December 31, 1972. ROBERT A. WILLIAMS Minister of Recreation and Conservation 1_) VICTORIA, B.C., February, 1973 The Honourable Robert A. Williams, Minister of Recreation and Conservation. SIR: I have the honour to submit the Annual Report of the Department of Recreation and Conservation for the year ended December 31, 1972. LLOYD BROOKS Deputy Minister of Recreation and Conservation CONTENTS PAGE Introduction by the Deputy Minister of Recreation and Conservation_____________ 7 General Administration_________________________________________________ __ ___________ _____ 9 Fish and Wildlife Branch____________ ___________________ ________________________ _____________________ 13 Provincial Parks Branch________ ______________________________________________ _________ __________________ 59 British Columbia Provincial Museum_______ _________________ _______________________ ______________ 87 Commercial Fisheries Branch_____ _______________________________________________________________ __ __ ___ 109 COVER PHOTO Aquatic plants are part of our marine wealth. / ") 0 Report of the Department of Recreation and Conservation, 1972 LLOYD BROOKS, DEPUTY MINISTER AND COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES INTRODUCTION The year 1972 was typified by continued increase in involvement of this De- partment with resource management and environmental matters, reflecting the steady growth of public concern over environmental quality and reflecting changing policy emphasis of a new Government. The Fish and Wildlife Branch has been the agency most affected by this changed and growing emphasis. There was a continued high level of park development, mainly aimed at in- creasing facility standards, under the Accelerated Park Development Fund, and new directions on parkland evaluation, primarily related to the northern half of the Province. It is hoped new Provincial parks will result from this programme. The Parks Branch also undertook a careful re-evaluation of facility standards which could lead to modified park designs and new facilities to meet changing outdoor recreational demands. The Commercial Fisheries Branch focused on an expanded programme of shared Federal-Provincial programmes, which, hopefully, will lead to opportuni- ties for new industry related to ocean resources. The Provincial Museum's year was highlighted by the opening of their first permanent exhibit, which earned enthusiastic comment and overwhelming visi- tation by the public. It is intended to move forward as quickly as possible on the other three-quarters of the Museum's exhibit space. With hopes for continuing interest, and emphasis on the recreational and cultural resources of this Province, the Department now moves confidently into a new year, realizing that with such emphasis comes a broadened responsibility and new challenges which we are prepared to meet. 7 r General Rdmlnlsttation Des:Jartment Df Recreat:lon and conservat:1on \\) DEPARTMENT OF RECREATION AND CONSERVATION, 1972 Z 11 GENERAL ADMINISTRATION General Administration consists of the Deputy Minister's office, the attached Public Information Officer, and the Accounts and Personnel office. The staff of General Administration work closely with all branches, and the Department of Travel Industry, in such Departmental matters as putting policy into effect, office and work facilities, personnel, and finance. General Adminis- tration is also responsible for the processing and handling of all subscriptions to Wildlife Review. Regular meetings are held with employees of the Parks Branch and the Fish and Wildlife Branch for the purpose of reviewing personnel accidents and seeking methods of improving safety. PERSONNEL SECTION The year 1972 saw the formal establishment of a Personnel Section in the Department of Recreation and Conservation and the appointment of a full-time Personnel Officer. Work has commenced on the development of this function within the Department. During 1972, classification reviews were carried out on the Conservation Officer series and Fish Culturist series in the Fish and Wildlife Branch. The Mu- seum Curator series in the Provincial Museum was also reviewed. Extensive recruitment of short-term employees was carried out through con- tinuation of the Accelerated Parks Development Programme. In addition, a num- ber of new professional and technically trained persons were taken on staff. In 1972, two employees completed the Basic Public Administration Course. One employee from the Department commenced the 1972/73 Executive Develop- ment Training Plan, while two were admitted to the Basic Public Administration Course. In addition, a number of Departmental employees completed a Staff Man- agement Course offered by the Civil Service Commission. Ten employees in the Department received 25-year continuous service awards while two employees received gold watches for 40 years of continuous service. Three awards of merit were presented to the Parks Branch by the British Columbia Safety Council for safety achievement in the following areas: Manning Park Region, silver award. Langford Workshop, bronze award. Okanagan Region, gold award. One hundred and twenty-three Civil Service Commission requisitions were processed through this Department for the Department of Travel Industry. PUBLIC INFORMATION The interest of the public in the outdoors continued unabated in 1972. Per- haps the most significant change was that more requests were received from or- ganized groups who displayed a growing tendency to become involved in decisions concerning the natural environment. The Departmental Public Information Officer continued to be a member of the Resource Use Information Committee (a subcommittee of the Environment and Land Use Committee) and the Wildlife Review Advisory Board. He was also appointed information officer for the British Columbia Man and Resources Pro- gramme. z 12 BRITISH COLUMBIA In September the Public Information Officer was relieved of duties with Beauti- ful British Columbia magazine, a quarterly publication of the Department of Travel Industry, after having served in various editorial capacities as his primary duty for more than seven years. The Public Information Officer successfully completed an eight-week tele- vision and film production course at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in Calgary and the Bani! Centre School of Fine Arts in Bani!. Toward the end of the year, meetings of public information officers in this and other departments were being held informally to determine the feasibility and advisability of clarifying and adhering to the qualifications and classifications of public information officers as a means to improve their services to the public. Con- currently, the information officers were in general agreement that the public de- mand for information about their Provincial Government was intensifying and they began working together on ways and means to impress upon their seniors the im- portance of establishing more effective public information policies and procedures. F1snane1 Wlldllfe Branen Department: of Recreat:lon and conservat:lon 1-) DEPARTMENT OF RECREATION AND CONSERVATION, 1972 Z 15 FISH AND WILDLIFE BRANCH J. HATTER, DIRECTOR Activities related to protection of fish and wildlife habitat continued to increase in 1972. Of particular note was the demand placed upon the Branch for resource data required for integration into forest management, including referral of cutting plans. A concern expressed over this growing emphasis on environmental matters is that recreational hunting and fishing is receiving less attention by the Branch, whose primary responsibilities have always been, like similar organizations, fish and wildlife management. Unlike other years, the Branch received an amount of $400,000 for expenditure on labour-intensive projects. This permitted a significant increase in fish and wild- life habitat improvement work, mainly stream clearance and winter-range rehabilita- tion. Considerable study of head office organization took place and plans were initiated for some major restructuring in 1973 to accommodate the needs of environmental involvement, management, and administration. The use of helicopters for transportation of hunters or game animals was pro- hibited. This was the outcome of several years of attention to the problem of helicopter use in hunting. Once again the Province's marginal and semimarginal deer populations were at a lowered level following two winters of above-average severity. Grouse populations over most of the Province were not abundant, but this is an expected periodic phenomenon. A $1 firearms licence was instituted in 1972. It is required by all persons carrying firearms who are not in possession of a valid hunting licence.