BACKGROUND EPORT R March 2005 for Big Creek Provincial Park Spruce Lake Protected Area Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection Parks Division Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................................... 9 PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT HISTORY ................................................................................................................ 10 PARK ESTABLISHMENT AND LEGISLATION .............................................................................................................. 13 MANAGEMENT DIRECTION FROM LAND USE PLANS ................................................................................................ 13 NATURAL VALUES ................................................................................................................................................ 16 CLIMATE .................................................................................................................................................................. 16 PHYSIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................................................................... 17 GEOLOGY ................................................................................................................................................................ 18 SOILS ....................................................................................................................................................................... 20 WATER .................................................................................................................................................................... 20 VEGETATION ........................................................................................................................................................... 21 WILDLIFE ................................................................................................................................................................ 28 CULTURAL VALUES .............................................................................................................................................. 39 FIRST NATIONS ........................................................................................................................................................ 39 NON-ABORIGINAL .................................................................................................................................................... 41 OUTDOOR RECREATION AND TOURISM VALUES ...................................................................................... 43 RECREATION QUESTIONNAIRE ................................................................................................................................. 43 OUTDOOR RECREATION FEATURES ......................................................................................................................... 44 VISUAL VALUES ...................................................................................................................................................... 48 OUTDOOR RECREATION AND TOURISM OPPORTUNITIES.......................................................................................... 48 EXISTING FACILITIES AND SERVICES ....................................................................................................................... 54 VISITOR ACTIVITY AREAS ....................................................................................................................................... 62 PARK VISITOR PROFILES.......................................................................................................................................... 66 VISITOR USE TRENDS: PAST; PRESENT; FUTURE ..................................................................................................... 66 ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE PARK .............................................................................................................. 72 SIGNIFICANCE IN THE PROTECTED AREA SYSTEM .................................................................................. 74 LAND TENURES, OCCUPANCY RIGHTS, AND RESOURCE USES ............................................................. 76 TENURES, RIGHTS AND RESOURCE USES IN THE PROTECTED AREA ........................................................................ 76 FIRST NATIONS INTERESTS ...................................................................................................................................... 81 PATTERNS OF LAND USE NEXT TO THE PROTECTED AREA ...................................................................................... 82 BC PARKS OPERATIONS ...................................................................................................................................... 87 OPERATIONS, INFRASTRUCTURE AND FACILITIES .................................................................................................... 87 KEY MANAGEMENT ISSUES ............................................................................................................................... 87 MANAGEMENT OF ECOLOGICAL VALUES ................................................................................................................ 87 MANAGEMENT FOR FOSSILS .................................................................................................................................... 90 MANAGEMENT OF RECREATION USE ....................................................................................................................... 90 ACCESS .................................................................................................................................................................... 99 MINERAL TENURES ................................................................................................................................................. 99 PLANNING FOR ADJACENT LANDS ........................................................................................................................... 99 PARK IDENTITY ..................................................................................................................................................... 100 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................................................... 101 APPENDICES .......................................................................................................................................................... 105 Preface This Background Document provides an information resource base on Big Creek Provincial Park and Spruce Lake Protected Area. It covers natural and cultural resources, recreation and tourism values and opportunities, and the history of planning and management of the area. The Background Document also identifies key issues for management planning. While not an exhaustive resource atlas, this report provides sufficient background information for BC Parks and the Big Creek Provincial Park and Spruce Lake Protected Area management planning team to address plan issues and provide management direction. Acknowledgements This Background Report was prepared by Frances Vyse of Mariposa Trails in Kamloops, Harry Parsons of Bufo Incorporated in Gibsons, and Mike Hanry, retired BC Parks Planning Officer, in Kamloops. Phil Holman, Forest Ecosystems Planning in Kamloops, developed the maps. Peter Weilandt, Jim Young, Cecil Simpson, Marcel Demers and Ron Routledge provided technical assistance and/or review. We particularly appreciate the assistance given by staff at all the provincial agencies with an interest in the parks and surrounding area. Paul Sciarizza, Senior Project Geologist, Geological Survey and Development Branch, B.C. Ministry of Energy and Mines provided valuable assistance in the Geology section. Thanks are also extended to all the park users and stakeholders who willingly shared their knowledge and interest in the parks both through their responses to the Recreation Questionnaire and otherwise. Joe Alphonse, Administrator of the Tsilhqot‟in Nation, provided background information about their interests in the area. Figure 1: Provincial and Regional Context Introduction Big Creek Provincial Park (67,962 ha) was established in 1995 through recommendations of the Cariboo-Chilcotin Land-Use Plan. Since then the July 2004 Draft Lillooet Land and Resource Use Management Plan has designated the large contiguous land area to the south of Big Creek Provincial Park as the Spruce Lake Protected Area (71,274 ha). The two areas form a continuous protected land base of 139,236 hectares stretching from the lower reaches of Tyaughton and Gun Creeks and extending north over the height of land into major portions of the upper drainages of Big Creek and Nadila Creeks. The connecting natural habitats and established tourism and recreational use linkages between these protected areas has dictated that the two areas be combined for park management and planning considerations. For these purposes, the combined unit is referred to as the Big Creek Park/Spruce Lake Protected Area. Spruce Lake Protected Area is approximately 150 km north of Whistler and 95 km west of Lillooet. Access from Pemberton is via the Hurley Forest Service Road to Gold Bridge or from Lillooet along Carpenter Lake. From Gold Bridge, a logging road