The BC Government recently introduced legislation to amend the Parks Act. In short to make it easier for industry to remove parts of parks and shift park boundaries and allow commercial operations and industry in parks.
West Coast Environmental Law has a good discussion on the impacts of the Bill.
And the Georgia Straight also has an article on it.
CPAWS and Wildsight have setup letter writing tools to help people write letters.
http://www.wildsight.ca/act/bcparks
http://org.salsalabs.com/o/2463/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=15093
The BCMC will be sending a letter to express our concern about the proposed changes.
The Wilderness Committee also has a letter writing tool.
It would appear that the Liberals have no intention of having a public consultation on Bill 4. The bill has gone through its second reading already so
So if ever there was a time to write your letter it is now.
Attached is the letter the BCMC submitted on behalf of the club.
Below is the response the BCMC recieved from the government.
Reference: 200769
May 28, 2014
Ben Singleton-Polster
Recreation and Conservation Chair
British Columbia Mountaineering Club
Email: bensp2@gmail.com
Dear Mr. Singleton-Polster:
Thank you for your email of March 5, 2014, regarding the Park Amendment Act 2014. I apologize for the delay in responding.
Please be assured that your government is committed to making sure our province remains as pristine as it is today for generations to come.
The Park Act prohibits industrial operations in parks, and this will not change.
The amendments authorize research permits in certain cases. In other words, research activities such as soil sampling, collecting plant and animal specimens, or installing gauges and instruments to measure environmental conditions, could be undertaken for academic reasons or as part of an environmental assessment. These permits would only be considered after a thorough review, and successful applicants would be required to make every effort to avoid any negative impacts.
While boundary adjustments have occurred in the past and will be considered in the future, it is important to note that just .006% of lands (562 hectares) have been removed from parks since 2004.
This consideration is guided by the Protected Areas Boundary Adjustment Policy, Process and Guidelines which is available on the BC Parks website at http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/planning/docs/boundary_adj_guide.pdf. As part of this process, extensive consultation with the public, stakeholders and First Nations is undertaken. The impact in the park or protected area, feasibility of alternative sites, evaluation of the environmental and socio-economic impact are all factors that are considered when considering whether or not to make a boundary adjustment. It is important to note decisions to amend any park boundary are not made lightly.
Since 2004, the system of Class A parks, conservancies, ecological reserves and protected areas has increased by more than 3.2 million hectares. This includes converting the designations of some existing areas totalling more than 500,000 to Class A parks and conservancies to provide an increased level of protection.
We have updated the Park Act so that we have better information, based on science. This will lead to informed decisions about how best to look after our parks and protected areas—we owe that to our children and grandchildren.
Thank you again for writing. I hope this response is helpful.
Sincerely,
Mary Polak
Minister