Help Save BC Parks and Wildlife
Liberal Government endangers Beautiful BC
In the spring of 2001 the BC Liberal Party took power after winning 58% of the popular vote and 97% of the seats in the BC Legislature. The Liberals campaigned on a platform that promised "a new era of environmental stewardship based on sound science, cleaner air, cleaner water and sustainable practices".
However, instead of following through on its election promises, the government has gutted environmental protection and enforcement legislation and reduced staffing to levels that make it nearly impossible to safeguard the environment and enforce the few remaining laws.
In addition, many provincial parks and Forest Service campsites are being closed and privatized. And now some of BC's finest wilderness parks, like Manning Park and South Chilcotin Mountains Park, are being reviewed as targets for industrial logging.
"We look ar the twin goals of environmental sustainability and a healthy economy to improve
the quality of life for every British Columbian"
- remarks by Premier Gordon Campbell at the opening of Globe 2002 trade show, March 2002
Meanwhile the number of citizens concerned about the environment continues to rise (see recent polling results inside). So it's clear that the provincial government is not taking its cues from the people who elected it but from self-interested groups Iike the logging and mining industries.
Many campgrounds from all regions of BC have been closed.
If you care about and enjoy BC's environment, or if you make your living from an industry that depends on a healthy environment such as tourism and fisheries, the time has come to take stock and take action to reverse these poorly-conceived government policies.
Gutting BC Parks, Hammering Tourism
In September 2001, the newly created Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection (a part of what was formerly the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks), released a report entitled `Economic Benefits of British Columbia's Provincial Parks'. The report gave the Wilderness Committee and other environmentalists reason to stand up and cheer after many years of working to create an adequate protected areas system.
The key finding of the report: "For each dollar invested by government in the protected areas system, there were about $10 dollars in visitor expenditures." To compare, the government calculates that for every dollar it has invested in its aggressive attempts to attract high or biotechnology companies to BC, it only generates about $3 dollars in expenditures. The report also asserts:
Yet in Spring 2002, the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection (WLAP) defied logic and their own economic arguments to announce significant cuts to provincial parks funding including eliminating parks management staff, interpretation centres, services and enforcement. The government quickly moved to remove bathroom facilities, shut down interpretation centres and phase out services. British Columbians are searching for clues as to why their government would gut the heart and soul of BC's parks system and so foolishly undermine the tourism economy on which so many municipalities around the province depend.
It's the Environment, Stupid!
Do the math! It makes no "cents" to starve BC's supernatural park system of operating funds.
- BC Parks Service recorded 23 million visits to BC parks in 2000 and 2001.- Our provincial park system serves the same number of visitors per year as Canada's national parks, yet even before recent cuts, received only one-tenth of the funding.
- Approximately six in ten residents of British Columbia use a provincial park each year.
After all, tourism generates nearly $10 billion in economic activity annually in the province and employs almost 100,000 people.
Tourists from across Canada and the world will be in for a big surprise when they flock to BC to experience the exceptional parks we are known world wide for. Coming to a halt at a locked washroom and closed campsites will not inspire many repeat visits.
Those that do find campsite space for the night, may end up damaging fragile park ecosystems in the absence of enforcement and interpretive services. Some campers, unable or unwilling to pay for firewood will resort to damaging the surrounding forest and even picnic tables in a search for firewood. We've all seen such vandalism from time to time. And as parks degrade, even more visitors will set off for greener pastures, damaging the tourism industry and hurting local economies from Tsawassen to the Tatshenshini. The gutting and selling off of our parks is outrageous, especially when the BC Liberals led many citizens to believe that they had more business sense than the former NDP government and thus would be able to deliver on their promise of "environmental sustainability and a healthy economy".
Unfortunately, the BC Liberals' anti-park policies are quite similar to those of their party's main financial supporters (see inside for an up-to-date list of donors). Timber and mining companies are two of the leading donor groups and have a long-standing dislike of parks, seeing them as competition for the province's timberlands and mountains.
Inside, read about ways to you can take action to help protect Beautiful BC!
