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VICTORIA – The provincial government is expanding British Columbia’s provincial parks system by protecting more than 150,000 hectares of B.C. wilderness, Water, Land and Air Protection Minister Bill Barisoff announced today.
Amendments introduced in the legislature today to the Park Actand theProtected Areas of British Columbia Act create 37 new Class A parks and one new ecological reserve, and expand 34 existing Class A parks and four ecological reserves.
“Parks benefit small business, encourage new investment in recreation and tourism, and help diversify local economies,” said Barisoff. “Each of these new parks has the support of local governments, just as Premier Campbell committed to local government leaders at the UBCM convention in September.”
With these amendments, the BC Parks system now includes 821 parks, protected areas and ecological reserves, providing more opportunities than ever for world-class outdoor recreation and conservation in British Columbia. With the latest additions, 12.5 per cent of B.C., totalling approximately 11.86 million hectares, has protected area status.
The new and expanded parks, located in nearly every region of the province, come as a result of numerous land acquisitions and three Land and Resource Management Plans (LRMPs), the Kalum LRMP in the northwest of the province, the Okanagan-Shuswap LRMP and the Fort St. James LRMP in the north.
“This is a significant milestone in the growth of our parks system, one that we committed to in the throne speech,” said Barisoff. “Ours is already the largest provincial parks system in Canada, one that attracts visitors from around the world.
“Today we are adding more than 150,000 hectares – an area 13 times the size of the City of Vancouver – to our parks and protected areas system, meaning more opportunities for visitors and more opportunities for B.C. communities,” Barisoff continued.
Among the protected areas being converted to Class A parks is the Myra-Bellevue Protected Area.
“In the Central Okanagan, we’re very pleased to learn the 7,700 hectares in the Myra-Bellevue Canyon are being converted from a protected area to a Class A Park,” said Kelowna Mayor Walter Gray. “People from around the world were attracted to this area before last summer’s disastrous fire destroyed so many of the historic trestles of the Kettle Valley Railway. Full park status should not only give a boost to the effort to re-build the trestles, but it should be a significant factor in tourism growth as the high quality of the B.C. parks system is known world-wide.”
“The creation of these parks from the LRMP processes help create further certainty for investment in the tourism sector,” said Michael Campbell, president of the Council of Tourism Associations. “Through these actions we are ensuring that B.C.’s land base will continue to be sustained over time, contributing thoughtfully and with vision to the social and economic welfare of the people of B.C. The province’s $9 billion tourism industry is proud to have been part of this process.”
The amendments will also implement new mapped boundaries for approximately 130 existing parks and ecological reserves, transfer two parks to the Northern Rockies Regional District and enable the minister to enter into collaborative park management agreements.
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A map detailing the new parks and ecological reserve and expansions to existing parks and ecological reserves is available at http://wlapwww.gov.bc.ca/pac/docs/ParksSpring2004-LlegislationMap.pdf.
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