With a Lot of Help from BC Parks

Strathcona Park Commercial Usage by Clayoquot Wilderness Resort Update

We have watched the bulldozing of the public’s input and the original intent for Strathcona Park by the government and Clayoquot Wilderness Resort and here is the latest update from Friends of Strathcona.

Read more about this commercial use of BC Parks (that means our) land by Clayoquot Wilderness Resort.

SPPAC REcommendations Ignored

Over twenty years ago a very high profile protest in Strathcona Park saw the first Canadians ever arrested and charged for defending a park. In response a Master Plan was developed and a Government appointed Advisory Committee struck to safeguard that plan.

In 1988 the threat came from mining. But today as a member of the Strathcona Park Public Advisory Committee (SPPAC) I observe a strange state of affairs. Now it seems, the pre-exisiting mining company operating in Strathcona appears to be the only organization that actually takes the advice of SPPAC seriously. BC Parks has lost sight of why SPPAC was created in the first place: to avoid conflict by providing a substantive opportunity for the public to review and comment on management decisions.

For example, earlier this year, after a grossly-flawed public input process, the Minister of Environment, ignored overwhelming public opposition and the advice of its own advisory committee and approved a park use permit for Clayoquot Wilderness Resort to operate commercial backcountry horse tours in Strathcona Park. The advice of SPPAC was that, despite loose wording, the intent of the Master Plan did not permit horse riding. This was brushed aside and an amendment was made to the Master Plan in direct conflict with the position of the public body charged with safeguarding it.

Adding insult to injury, an inordinate amount of BC Parks staff time and therefore money was allocated to facilitate this application at a time when park infrastructure is rapidly decaying and is neglected due to budget cuts.

Once drafted, the terms of the permit were provided to the Strathcona Park Public Advisory Committee for comment and ‘advice’. Despite providing valid and reasonable suggestions to modify these terms, for example that the length of the initial permit be reduced from an overly-generous twenty years to ten, the Regional Manager to whom SPPAC ‘advises’ simply rejected every recommendation. This is a worrying breach of BC Parks’ own mission statement that commits to managing our provincial parks in the public trust.

I think, as a committee member representing the public on matters concerning Strathcona Park, that it is important for everyone to know, that it is glaringly apparent that the public has no input whatsoever into the management of our Provincial parks, and that in the case of our oldest park their representation through SPPAC is systematically minimized, short-changed and flat out ignored.

This should come as little surprise as indicated by Premier Clark shrugging off the recommendations of the Strathcona Centennial Expedition: that the Government reaffirm its commitment to manage parks in the public interest.

As the centennial year of BC Parks, 2011, draws to a close it is shameful to report that the glorious legacy left for us one hundred years ago is under direct attack from the very Government responsible for protecting it. I urge readers who value our parks to communicate to our MLA in the strongest terms that they wish their voices to be heard and heeded where conservation and protection is being called for.

-Philip Stone

Read more about this commercial use of BC Parks (that means our) land by Clayoquot Wilderness Resort.