British Columbia’s park system has long been a point of pride for people in the province. These protected areas were set aside to conserve some of BC’s most special wild places for the inspiration and enjoyment of the public. But a new bill introduced by the BC government this year could mean big changes for our cherished provincial parks.

On February 13, 2014, the government introduced Bill 4, the Park Amendment Act, 2014. If passed by the legislature, this Bill would allow industry and others to conduct “research” in provincial parks related to pipelines, transmission lines and other industrial activity. This could include exploratory drilling, ore sampling and road building within BC Parks, as well as film production.

These proposed amendments pose a serious threat to the integrity of our park system and the unique opportunities that it provides – not only for British Columbians but for visitors from around the world.

You can read more about the details of Bill 4 in this blog post from West Coast Environmental Law.

From the Juan de Fuca Provincial Park all the way to the Northern Rocky Mountains, BC’s parks provide vital protection for wilderness and wildlife, and public access to incredible landscapes found nowhere else on Earth. The province’s park system protects almost 13.5 million hectares of nature in BC, but in the past several years it has struggled under excessive funding cuts, ranger shortages and park maintenance problems.

This week, the Wilderness Committee signed on to an open letter with a number of environmental groups including West Coast Environmental Law, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS BC), Sierra Club BC and ForestEthics, calling on Premier Christy Clark and Environment Minister Mary Polak to save our beloved parks and put a stop to Bill 4.

Click here to view the letter.

Here at the Wilderness Committee, we’ll be keeping a close eye on this proposed bill while it’s being debated in the legislature. Please stay tuned for updates as we continue to fight for proper protection for BC’s provincial parks!

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For more information about BC Parks and the difficulties the park system is facing in BC, check out a report we published on this topic in 2013:

British Columbia’s Provincial Parks: The Best Place on Earth?