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. 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 Sail and Life Training Society and the friends I made on those trips. Thanks to all interview participants for sharing stories of their outdoor adventures, their insights into why wilderness matters, their persistence in valuing recreation as an important land use, and for building some of the trails that we enjoy today. Rik Valentine generously gave me permission to use his photographs of the Earl Grey Trail project. John Douglas “Jack” Gregson sent me letters, images and sections of his memoirs, in addition to spreading the word about my research. Gregson’s friend Helmut Godau told me about the Bomb Squad, introduced me to the group, and showed me the trails. John and Beth Carlson kindly invited my partner Christian and me to stay with them while conducting interviews in Powell River. Although I approached this topic with a kind of scholarly relativism, doing interviews challenged this mindset, and encouraged me to balance scholarship with activism. In particular, Courtenay environmentalist Ruth Masters and Kaslo film-maker Terry Halleran inspired me with their original and active commitment to the sustainability of greenspaces and regional ecologies. The Department of History at the University of Victoria has offered me funding at the beginning and end of this degree, and the chance to teach Canadian and British Columbia history. The Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada generously funded two years of doctoral research. Thanks to Dr. Elizabeth Vibert for her perceptive advice on several occasions and for organizing graduate workshops where I had the chance to present my work to my peers. Archivists at a number of archival repositories around the province have helped me locate material, including Elizabeth Scarlett at the Kaslo Archives, Shawn Lamb at the Nelson Archives, and Cathy English at the Revelstoke Archives. Catherine Siba at the Courtenay Museum and Archives gave me a unique opportunity