Logging on Manning Park’s borders — 2004
Park Facts
* BC has just one park ranger for every eight parks.
* BC joins Mississippi as the only two jurisdictions in the US and Canada with no
government-funded interpretive programs for park visitors.
Logging & Mining
Although cutbacks, user fees and privatization are undermining the integrity of our protected areas system, perhaps nothing concerns conservationists more than the fact logging for revenue is now permitted within park boundaries. In 2004, the government opened up BC Parks to logging, ostensibly to address fire and mountain pine beetle concerns. Unfortunately, as scientists have confirmed, logging will not stop the mountain pine beetle infestation, nor will it adequately address the fire hazard posed by climate change and over-crowded stands of trees that are the result of years of intensive fire suppression. BC Parks staff are fighting to restrict the impact, and depth and breadth of logging in parks; however, in the past, political considerations have routinely trumped field staff concerns. Commercial logging in parks could set a dangerous precedent, where parks are logged for revenue to offset serious funding shortfalls in the BC Parks budget.
The Reality
With each passing year, BC’s world-famous park legacy faces an increasing barrage of threats. Funding cuts, logging, private development, parking meters, and massive lay-offs of park rangers and field staff are all eroding our parks.
Water pumps and washrooms have also been shut down, garbage pickup discontinued, and campsites closed in many parks. Today, BC and Mississippi are the only jurisdictions in Canada and the United States with no government-funded park interpretation programs. The cumulative impacts of these drastic measures not only undermine the ability of residents & visitors to enjoy our protected areas system, they also threaten the ecological integrity of parks.
User Pay Schemes
In 2003 the provincial government introduced parking meters for the first time in provincial parks. Originally, 27 popular parks in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island had meters installed. In 2004 the government quietly expanded meters to another 14 parks in the Okanagan, bringing the total to 41 parks. The meters proved to be deeply unpopular with the public. Within the first year of operation there were over 1,000,000 fewer visits to 14 parks with meters in the Lower Mainland alone. In addition, government documents show the meters missed revenue targets by 80%.(1)
All this could have been averted if the government had listened to their own auditors. In February 2004 government auditors warned the parking meter program was at high risk to lose money because the cost of administering the parking meter program would likely outstrip revenues. Auditors also pointed out that the province did not have the legal authority to collect fines from issued tickets.
There is still hope that the government will listen to the public and remove the meters. In early 2006, Washington state decommissioned a similar user-pay program in their state’s parks after only three years of operation. The reason? Lost revenues and lower visitation.
Staff Cuts
In 2001 the provincial government cut the BC Parks budget and staff by almost 30%. This came on top of earlier cuts from previous administrations. By the time the province had finished with the cuts to parks in 2004 there was just one park ranger for every eight provincial parks; government funded interpretive programs were gone, and the highly successful Park Extension Program, which coordinated park volunteers, had been disbanded. Although the provincial government restored funding for up to 25 seasonal park rangers in 2005, even with that increase the numbers of park rangers is below 2001 levels.(2)
Parks for Sale
In the fall of 2003 the provincial government introduced the Parks and Protected Areas Statutes Amendment Act. This legislation took away the clear prohibitions on private development in parks contained in the BC Parks Act and replaced them with broad discretionary powers for government to decide if a proposed tourism development was “consistent with or complementary to the recreation values of the park involved.”(3) At the time the government down-played conservationists’ fears, but these concerns proved to be well-founded. In early 2004 leaked government documents revealed plans for the development of commercial for-profit resorts within the boundaries of 12 provincial parks. After a series of embarrassing media stories which revealed planned resorts in parks were geared to “well-heeled” tourists and “high-end” lodges, the government temporarily postponed a planned February 2006 public announcement of their Park Lodge Strategy. However, as long as the Parks and Protected Areas Statutes Amendment Act remains on the books, the government can, and likely will, re-introduce plans for private developments in parks.
