The underfunding of BC's parks
Freedom of Information (FOI) requests have revealed embarrassingly low figures for parks spending in British Columbia. Government information and FOI documents released to the Wilderness Committee show provincial government promises have not been kept, and in fact on a per hectare and visitor basis BC is at the bottom of the heap regarding funding for rangers, staff and and the BC Parks operational budget.
In 2005 the BC government promised they would hire up to 50 park rangers from 2005 – 08. However, analysis done on the number of park rangers currently in BC show the current numbers fall well short of that promise.
A February 8, 2005 BC government press release heralded the announcement of “a B.C. Conservation Corps and up to 50 more park rangers to create a new generation of conservationists.”
See Parks: A Comparative Analysis
According to a March 22,2005 BC government press release, "over the next 3 years, the Province will invest $16 million to increase the number of park rangers and conservation officers and establish a B.C. Conservation Corps to provide employment opportunities for students." $7.5 million was supposed to be earmarked for rangers and conservation officers. With our provincial government boasting of our economic strength, we wanted to follow up on how well these promises have been kept.
Several months ago the Wilderness Committee asked the Ministry of Environment for the number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) park rangers in BC. The Ministry repeatedly stalled on releasing the figures despite our repeated requests. Eventually, the figure was released as 193 seasonal and permanent rangers. We believed this figure was incorrect, as the entire FTE staff for BC Parks is approximately 175 FTE positions. One of the reasons that the number of rangers was so high was because the government included management and bureaucrats in Victoria, who have "emergency" ranger designation, in the total numbers. They aren't field rangers but their numbers help inflate the total.
Because of our doubts on the veracity of the information, we ended up submitting an FOI which we got back several weeks ago. We were surprised to find that despite the BC government's 2005 promise to increase rangers positions by up to 50, that in 2007 British Columbia will have just 64 FTE ranger positions for the entire park system.
In the off season, roughly October to April, that means there are just 10 rangers for 852 parks covering almost 13 million hectares – an impossible task and a far cry from what was promised.
Even taking into account seasonal rangers that are hired during the summer months – the amount of FTE rangers in 2007 is almost 40% lower than it was in 2001.
Below are the numbers of Park Ranger positions in BC from 00-07 (2007 FOI)
| 00/01 | 01/02 | 02/03 | 03/04 | 04/05 | 05/06 | 06/07 | |
| Seasonal FTEs | 67.9 | 74.6 | 51 | 43 | 43 | 53.8 | 53.8 |
| Regular FTEs | 26 | 27 | 20 | 17 | 9.8 | 10 | 10 |
| Total FTEs | 93.9 | 101.6 | 71 | 60 | 52.8 | 63.8 | 63.8 |
You will notice that the "up to 50 park rangers" promised in the 2005 currently amount to the addition of 10 seasonal FTE ranger positions. The amount of regular year-round rangers stayed at a measly 10 positions.
Further, in 1996/97 according to the Ministry's Annual Report there were 356 FTE staff with BC Parks. In 2007 there are a reported 175-179 FTE staff positions in BC Parks, of which 170 are identified in the BC Parks organization charts, and a few of which posts are vacant.
