The Executive Director for the Federation of Mountain Clubs British Columbia (FMCBC) says capacity issues and broken & missing signage are just a number of problems they’ve been hearing about in recent years, particularly this year within BC Parks.

This fall a video surfaced online of Joffre Lakes’ overflowing parking lot, demonstrating just one problem area within the Sea to Sky region.

Jodi Appleton says the FMCBC is running a campaign asking park users to send them videos and photos of damage or over crowding, so that they have examples to show that BC Parks needs more funding. So far they’ve received photos of broken signage, boardwalks and bridges that are falling apart and overflowing parking lots.

Appleton says even if you’re not a regular user of BC Parks, these parks are important to all British Columbians; “We need to take care of them both from an ecological point of view and from a recreation point of view. If we want to be able to enjoy the parks, then the facilities need to be maintained, upgraded and there needs to be some constant money that’s flowing into the parks so that they can be maintained and improved on a regular basis.”

In response to the question of under funding the Ministry of Environment said in a statement; ‘BC Parks has experienced significant growth in visitation to Provincial Parks in the Sea to Sky corridor and will be looking at strategies to address growing demand while providing a high quality visitor experience. BC Parks has implemented management changes to reduce parking congestion in some of the parks along the Sea to Sky corridor, including Murrin, Stawamus Chief, and Porteau Cove. With the popularity of parks in the region increasing throughout the year, we recognise that additional management changes are needed.’

The FMCBC says that while they themselves do not maintain trails, they are an umbrella organization for outdoors clubs, and many of those clubs are doing lots of volunteer work on trails throughout the province. Appleton says the amount of work depends on the partnership with the local Park Rangers, and how many Rangers are available to work with the volunteers.

 

Photo Credit: McKay Savage – Flickr.com

Filed under: BC Parks, British Columbia, Joffre Lakes, Squamish, Whistler