Park Additions Boost Outdoor Recreation, Strengthen Ecosystem Protection

The BC Government has introduced legislation aimed at expanding BC’s parks and protected areas, strengthening biodiversity conservation, and providing more opportunities for people to access outdoor recreation.

“Our actions this week to expand and enhance B.C.’s parks and protected areas play an important part in our ongoing work to preserve ecological, recreational and cultural values,” said George Heyman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy.

“That’s why we are expanding and strengthening our parks and protected areas to ensure these special places will be here for our children and grandchildren, as well as maintaining irreplaceable provincial ecosystems and biodiversity.”

The additions, proposed through amendments to the Protected Areas of British Columbia (PABC) Act, add 189 hectares to six existing provincial parks and one conservancy.

The additions consist of private land acquisitions, private donations and Crown lands, and include:
-Tribune Bay Park (on Hornby Island): 10 hectares, along with three hectares of adjacent marine foreshore that includes the last remaining beachfront property at Tribune Bay and an existing private campground with 135 sites.
-Muncho Lake Park (near Fort Nelson): 2.5 hectares to protect additional waterfront along the jade-coloured Muncho Lake that’s located a few minutes from the Alaska Highway.
-Edge Hills Park (near Clinton): 11 hectares to protect panoramic river canyon vistas, forested slopes, grassy benchlands and ravines along the Fraser River.
-Valhalla Park (near Slocan): six hectares to reduce the number of private land inholdings (land surrounded by existing park), protecting the diverse topography, majestic peaks and unique vegetation of the Selkirk Mountains.
-Purcell Wilderness Conservancy Park (near Kaslo): 24 hectares to reduce the number of private land inholdings in the park that includes habitat for mule deer and grizzly bears.
-Mount Pope Park (near Fort St. James): 4.8 hectares to expand parking in the park that’s popular with hikers and rock climbers. 
-Taku River/T’aḵú Téix̱’ Conservancy (near Atlin): 127 hectares that could not be added to the conservancy when it was established in 2012 due to an active mineral tenure that has now expired.

In addition to these expansions, Cardiff Mountain Ecological Reserve will be renamed to Tŝi ʔEẑɨsh Ecological Reserve to better reflect the First Nations place name for the area.

B.C. has 1,039 provincial parks, recreation areas, conservancies, ecological reserves, and protected areas covering more than 14 million hectares, or approximately 14.4% of the land base.

To learn more, visit Government of British Columbia.