“The government has created a brave new world in which our world-renowned parks system is threatened with death by a thousand cuts, and British Columbians will be forced, over and over again, to fight to preserve individual parks from industrial interests,” said Sierra Club BC Executive Director Bob Peart. “It’s clear from the 167,000 people who have already signed the petition calling for the repeal of the Park Amendment Act that British Columbians do not want the integrity of our parks to be destroyed to serve the private interests of foreign pipeline proponents.”

Kinder Morgan is applying to change the boundaries of four parks: Finn Creek Park, northeast of Clearwater; North Thompson River Park, south of Clearwater; Lac Du Bois Grasslands Protected Area, northwest of Kamloops; and Bridal Veil Falls Park, east of Chilliwack.

“B.C.’s parks are to be protected forever, not subject to the whim of private corporations who see them as nothing but obstacles to their plan to export tarsands oil,” said Peter Wood of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society. “An oil spill in these parks would destroy their value for British Columbians and threaten vital grasslands habitat in Lac du Bois, and spawning ground for bull trout, Coho and Chinook salmon in Finn Creek.”

In the fall of 2013, the provincial government issued permits to Kinder Morgan to conduct “invasive research” in these parks. The Minister of Environment admitted these permits were granted without the legal authority to do so.

In an attempt to legitimize this type of activity, the government then passed the Park Amendment Act in the spring of 2014, which provides government with the statutory authority to issue permits for industrial research. Kinder Morgan is now using the results of its research to attempt to change the boundaries of these parks to accommodate its proposed Trans Mountain pipeline via the government’s protected area boundary adjustment policy.

“Along with repealing the Park Amendment Act, the Province’s protected area boundary adjustment policy needs to be fixed to ensure that our parks are protected from industrial development,” said Gwen Barlee of Wilderness Committee. “We are calling on British Columbians to defend our parks system—and these four parks in particular—by saying ‘no’ to changing these park boundaries to suit Kinder Morgan’s pipeline aspirations.”

Sierra Club BC, Wilderness Committee and Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society-BC will be mobilizing their supporters to fight these park boundary changes.

Concerned British Columbians can comment on Kinder Morgan’s applications by visiting the B.C. Parks website at: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/PBAProcess/kmcp.html.

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For more information, please contact:

Tim Pearson
Communications Director, Sierra Club BC
250-896-1556

Peter Wood
Director of Terrestrial Campaigns, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society-BC
604 761 3075

Gwen Barlee
Policy Director, Wilderness Committee
604-202-0322

Photo: Kinder Morgan has applied for a boundary adjustment at Bridal Veil Falls Provincial Park to accommodate its new tar sands pipeline. The park was established after the existing Kinder Morgan pipeline was built.