Time for province to invest in parks
The current health pandemic has shone a light on the cracks in many of our public systems, and BC Parks is no exception. B.C.’s provincial parks have been chronically underfunded since the early 2000s, with minimal resources to manage nearly 15 per cent of the land in our province.
This lack of funding has caused many issues within parks. Parks rangers are few and far between, leaving areas with no one to monitor for illegal activity such as wildlife poaching and dumping. There are decades worth of maintenance and planning to do, to keep up with demand for outdoor recreation while safeguarding nature.
As B.C. reopens our communities and green lights local travel, camping and hiking in provincial parks provide one of the most affordable and spectacular ways to explore the province. To keep these places open safely, we must invest in BC’s parks.
Investing in parks means investing in community wellbeing. These times of difficulty will continue and this will not likely be the last pandemic, and we have to be prepared and have a firm foundation now and for the future of parks.
Sally Hart
Duncan
