Dear editor,
The current health pandemic has shone a light on the cracks in many of our public systems, and BC Parks is no exception. BC’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 B.C.’s parks.
Our parks have an important role to play in offering beauty, safety and a connection to nature that each of us, and our families, can benefit from in these difficult and stressful times.
Investing in parks means investing in community well-being.
Dorrance Woodward,
Denman Island