B.C. Oversight of recreation sites, trails and environment, parks, shifts

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Outdoor enthusiasts welcomed a provincial reshuffle, announced in Tuesday’s budget. This brings together all aspects of hiking, camping, and general enjoyment of public lands under one roof.

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We are thrilled by this, stated Louise Pedersen. She is the executive director of the Outdoor Recreation Council of B.C. It makes sense to have everything under one roof.

Since 1976, the council has called for the amalgamation of all government responsibilities for B.C.’s parks trails and recreation areas.

The Forestry Ministry was responsible for B.C.’s 1,372 recreation/camping sites and 20,000 kilometres of trails along Crown land. The Ministry of Environment was responsible for recreation and conservation in the provinces’ protected areas.

While it is possible to have two heads, it is important to remember that too many cooks can ruin the broth.

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Pedersen stated that having both agencies under one roof and one Minister could be a boon.

In recent years, complaints have been rising that British Columbians or tourists love B.C.’s trails and parks to death.

Reservations are difficult to find, camp sites and popular trails are overcrowded, parking spaces are limited, and hikers report seeing more braided paths (made by people who leave main routes to create new routes, destroying fragile ecosystems along the way).

There have been trial balloons about paying-only access and quotas. Approval of new trailsOr infrastructure can take seemingly endless amounts of time.

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Volunteers are now required to pick up more litter than ever before. This can habituate bears to humans and search-and rescue teams are alarmed by the rise in selfie-seekers who are not prepared.

Critics contend that green space was not created to keep pace with home construction. COVID-19 has only exacerbated the situation when people took to outdoor spaces during public-gathering restrictions.

Pedersen stated that more money was not included in the new budget, which is crucial to repair the province’s beloved but damaged recreation system.

B.C. has suffered decades of underfunding. Overburdened trail networks, disused recreation sites, cultural and environmental damage, too few staff, insufficient capacity to engage effectively and effectively with Indigenous governments, as well a lackluster volunteer group who are overwhelmed by the sheer volume and lack of support she stated.

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COVID highlighted the importance outdoor activity and has posted a series of Facebook posts, from the provincial license plates to posts from residents to friends in the rest Canada, that basically said, “Don’t You Wish You Were Here” about B.C.’s natural beauty.

The Outdoor Recreation Council of B.C. The Outdoor Recreation Council of B.C. represents 60 provincial and regional groups that collectively number more than 100,000 people. While more money is required for operations and staff, Pedersen believes the amalgamation can be an exciting new start.

It could help create a solid vision, an ambitious vision for outdoor recreation in B.C. She stated that this is what the future could look like. I choose to be optimistic, this (amalgamation), is better, a lot worse.

Although there are some concerns and worries, overall this could be a positive experience.

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