NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release 2010ENV0040-000776 June 30, 2010

Ministry of Environment

 

CARP LAKE CAMPGROUND REOPENED TO THE PUBLIC

 

PRINCE GEORGE – Carp Lake campground in Carp Lake Provincial Park is once again fully open to campers for their use and enjoyment, Environment Minister Barry Penner announced today.

 

“Everyone is encouraged to visit this beautiful park and enjoy the variety of camping opportunities and the great fishing Carp Lake offers,” said Penner. “When visiting the park, you will notice a number of new improvements, including a more open and bright setting.”

 

The Carp Lake campground was closed to the public over the 2009 camping season due to thousands of unsafe trees that were killed by the mountain pine beetle. Over the past year, BC Parks has worked in partnership with the Ministry of Forests and Range and the Job Opportunity Fund on hazard tree removal. The work was done by Summit Contracting from Prince George and the McLeod Lake Indian Band with displaced forest workers from McLeod Lake and Mackenzie.

 

“We are pleased to have worked in partnership on this important tree felling project with BC Parks, Summit Contracting from Prince George and the McLeod Lake Indian Band,” said Forests and Range Minister Pat Bell. “The project involved the Community Development Trust, which is a program helping forest workers, their families and their communities get through challenging times in the forest sector.”

 

Crews felled approximately 6,000 hazard trees in the campground and disposed of the debris, making the campground safe for park visitors. As a result of removing the hazard trees, the campground is now more open, allowing the sites to have full sunlight and many sites have fantastic views of Carp Lake. The removed trees were cut into firewood, which is available for campers at no charge.

 

Carp Lake Provincial Park, located two hours north of Prince George, offers some of the best fishing in the Central Interior. The park includes Carp Lake, nearby War Lake, numerous smaller lakes and streams, and the eight-kilometre waterway that connects Carp and War Lakes. For more information, visit www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/carp_lk.

 

Just this year, the B.C. government established seven new class A provincial parks. Today, a total of 14.27 per cent (more than 13.5 million hectares) of British Columbia is protected – more than any other province in Canada. This is an area equal in size to the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and P.E.I. combined.

 

Over the past five years, the B.C. government has invested approximately $107 million to improve park infrastructure and acquire additional parkland.

 

To learn more about BC Parks, go to: www.bcparks.ca.

 

To make a camping reservation under BC Parks’ new and improved reservation system, go to: www.discovercamping.ca.

 

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Media Contact:

Suntanu Dalal Media Relations Ministry of Environment 250 387-9745

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