Protesters demanding to keep B.C. parks free of industrial activity gathered on the front steps of the B.C. Legislature. They were there to deliver a petition signed by more than 166,000 people to Minister of Environment Mary Polak.

They are asking the government to revoke the Park Amendment Act, which was passed in March of this year and allows companies to conduct industrial research in B.C. parks. Based on the research findings, corporations could later apply for the provincial park boundaries to be redrawn. That's one reason environmental groups are calling on the province to scrap the proposed amendments. "This is very serious. There is no park in B.C. that is now safe from industrial development," says Gwen Barlee, policy director with the Wilderness Committee.