For Immediate Release - Thursday February 08, 2007

Freedom of Information request reveals 37% fewer park ranger positions in 2007 than in 2001

February 8, 2007, Vancouver, BC - Provincial government documents recently obtained through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request submitted by the Wilderness Committee show that a 2005 British Columbia government promise to hire up to 50 park rangers has resulted in the addition of just 11 full-time equivalent (FTE) ranger positions.

The numbers are even worse for parks rangers employed year round in BC. FOI documents reveal there is just one permanent full-time ranger for every 1,300,000 hectares of protected areas in BC.

* FOI documents show that in 2007 BC had 37% fewer provincial park rangers than in 2001. In 2001 there were 101 full-time equivalent ranger positions, however, in 2007 there were just 64 ranger positions despite a BC government promise in a 2005 news release to hire "up to 50 more park rangers."

* FOI documents also reveal that there are currently only 10 permanent rangers in BC, a decline of 62% from 2001, when 27 permanent full-time rangers were employed. Currently, there is just one permanent full-time ranger responsible for every 1,300,000 hectares of protected areas in the province, or, conversely one permanent ranger for every 85 parks.

* Government documents also show that staffing for BC Parks is 50% lower than a decade ago. In 1996, when the park system was smaller (8,266,000 hectares protected), there were 356 FTE employees. Currently, there are just 175 FTE BC Parks employees responsible for 13,000,000 hectares.

"In 2005 the BC government promised to reinvigorate our park system, which included hiring up to 50 new park rangers, however, their own documents show they have broken that promise," commented Gwen Barlee, policy director with the Wilderness Committee. "The fact is, in 2007, we have far fewer rangers and staff with BC Parks than we had in 2001."

The provincial government has been under increasing pressure to restore funding to the park system in BC. After dramatically cutting parks staff and budget in their first term, the Campbell government has repeatedly pledged to commit more funding to parks citing public concern and the booming provincial economy.

"We have one of the finest park systems in North America, one which provides $10 in visitor expenditures for every $1 of government funding, and yet our government is starving it of funding," said Barlee. "On a per-hectare and per visitor basis, we are now one of the worst-funded park systems in North America. I cannot for the life of me understand why our Minister of the Environment, who used to be a BC park ranger, will not stand up for our park system."

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For more info please contact:

Gwen Barlee, WCWC policy director, at 604-202-0322 (c) or 604-683-8220 (w)

For additional information on the economic benefits of BC Parks visit:

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/planning/research/economic_benefits_bcparks_sept_2001_report.pdf