Mamquam access to Seed, Gillespie and Boise trails An update on the access road to Seed and Gillespie in Pinecone Burke provincial park. I was talking to Sqomish Logging about the road deactivation plan. There is further logging planned for this fall and next year. I think their activity is on E-110 and E-23-1 (see map). The roads will not be deactivated before then. I asked for access to be preserved, speaking on behalf of a mountaineering club. The company recognizes the importance of...

Some idiot or idiots cut the Sea to Sky Gondola Cable again. "The cable of the Sea-to-Sky Gondola near Squamish, B.C., has been deliberately cut in the middle of the night for the second year in a row, leaving the tourist attraction in shambles and its staff completely bewildered."... Read full article below: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/sea-to-sky-gondola-vandalism-2020-1.5723042?fbclid=IwAR1o1YMnWbTONdvCouVfQMBlQP8Wu_tRHfgpenQ-580zuEcq8Tn52SSxF8o

PATCHWORK OF OLD GROWTH LOGGING DEFERRALS ANNOUNCED Logging is deferred in nine areas including the so-called Donut Hole of Manning Park (Skagit-Silverdaisy). Regarding the Donut Hole, the Federation of Mountain Clubs of BC says "the FMCBC is working in alliance with several others/organizations (including Tom Perry, Ken Farquharson, CPAWS, ORC, Wilderness Committee, Sierra Club of BC, BC Wildlife Federation, BC Nature, BC Federation of Drift Fishers) to save the Donut Hole. While Imperial...

The provincial government's use of time extensions for British Columbia's information access requests is undermining the province's Freedom of Information Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA), says the province's information and privacy commissioner... Click on the link below for the full article: https://www.squamishchief.com/b-c-government-breaking-law-in-extending-information-request-times-privacy-commissioner-1.24196499?fbclid=IwAR3Hb4ORh1ngEZk7YpMlUeDfleeuaNjO7oMjTp-Pt0qinZiLWeT1IN1pHTM

VANCOUVER -- A 36-year-old man is recovering in hospital after being bitten by a grizzly bear in backcountry territory near Pemberton, B.C. Sgt. Simon Gravel with the Sea to Sky Conservation Office shared details of the incident, saying the man and two friends were on their first day of a hunting trip when there was a “surprise encounter.” “The man was hiking towards the North Creek Cabin and he saw a bear cub and the first thing he knew the sow was on him, biting his leg, so he fought...

We wrote the BC Environment Ministry asking for the methodology and data behind the BC Parks Daypass System, and the scientific rationale and definitions behind their ongoing employment of the term "carrying capacity" which has been used as the basis for backcountry recreation management decisions including caps and limits. We were assured that the information would be forthcoming from staff. Weeks later, after no further communication, we subsequently Emailed a friendly reminder asking for a...

As an artist myself, I have always likened the destruction and desecration of an artistic object to be akin to sacrilege. Given that premise, I assert that pictographs are highly valuable artistic objects. Full Article Below: Osoyoos Indian Band mulls closing pictograph site after vandals deface it with obscenities: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/osoyoos-indian-band-close-pictograph-vandalism-1.5708751?fbclid=IwAR349kDsKLKfFCtrU_tszX1btWMZSvSzMwSEQCuQvIkdjarl-HWL97t6EDw

The Smoke Bluffs land parcel in Squamish was purchased in the 1980's via the major fundraising efforts of volunteers within the climbing and mountaineering community. The lands were given to the FMCBC to care for and to protect as a community asset in perpetuity. They believed the FMCBC could always be trusted and never imagined these lands might one day be sold for purposes of an organization's operating capital during budget difficulties.  As a community, we witnessed the exact same...

From a Wanderung post, about towing hikers' vehicles from the pullout at Tunnel Point. Take a bus to Lions Bay or Brunswick Point to access the Tunnel Bluffs trail or cycle from Horseshoe Bay. The new 30-min sign is positioned at the ramp to the Tunnel Bluffs parking in such way that many drivers miss it. And once you park the car, there's no way to see that sign. A number of seasoned hikers were caught off-guard today. It costs $195 to recover your vehicle from the "Payless"...

Recent floods of tourists to popular towns on Vancouver Island's west coast have been an economic blessing — but many residents and businesses say they've also been a social curse. While the influx of tourist dollars has been welcome for communities like Tofino and Ucluelet, locals have reported an increase in rude behaviour, messiness and disregard for bylaws... Click below for full...

Is the FMCBC selling the Smoke Bluffs and Burgers and Fries because of their budget woes? Credible sources have informed us that the FMCBC is moving to sell the Smoke Bluffs land parcel to the District of Squamish and that in-camera discussions may already have occurred. The Smoke Bluff lands were purchased with monies generated from the hard fundraising efforts of volunteers within the mountain clubs and rock climbing communities/societies in the 1980's. Many of these dedicated volunteers...

The project, being developed by Aquilini Development and Northland Properties, applied to the provincial Environmental Assessment Office to extend the Environmental Assessment Cirtificate that was issued to Garibaldi at Squamish Inc. in January of 2016... See full article below: https://www.squamishchief.com/news/local-news/planning-continues-for-garibaldi-at-squamish-1.24189161?fbclid=IwAR0wm_e0ZDVe7XT6uK_vIufQHIj8abbfbt4mACULtiouHkqaBbm2iOKIj30 

CARRYING CAPACITY—NEW MANAGEMENT TOOL FOR DAY PASS HAS NO EXPLANATION IN AFFECTED PARK MASTER PLANS According to the BC Parks website, it has determined the carrying capacity of the trails and parking lots of the parks covered in the day pass system. See the graphic below from its day-use pass general information page. A cursory search of the park master plans for Garibaldi and Cypress for the term "carrying capacity" did not find any relevant hits related to non-commercial park operations...

PARKING CAPACITY — MANAGEMENT TOOL FOR DAY PASS UNDER THE MICROSCOPE BC Parks uses parking capacity as a factor to determine how many day passes to allow. See my earlier post on the topic of Carrying Capacity that explains it. I did some quantitative analysis to see how germane parking capacity is to the carrying capacity. I only looked at the South Coast region excluding Golden Ears because it uses vehicle passes. Cypress, Seymour and Stawamus Chief have virtually unlimited parking options....

CROSS-OVER TRAILS SEEMINGLY EXEMPT FROM DAY PASS According to the BC Parks website, access along day pass-administered trails from other trail heads or access points is permitted with parks staff discretion. See the graphic below from its day-use pass general information page. I am presuming the Lions, Baden Powell and Trans Canada trails are examples where this might be the case for Cypress Provincial Park. Alice Ridge, Brohm Ridge and Black Tusk microwave road for Garibaldi Provincial Park.

It is a safe supposition on my part to state that outdoor recreation has not increased 400% since last year (both front and backcountry).   The annual population increase of Metro Vancouver is 1.16%, and according to a senior government presenter at a MFLNRO meeting I attended, the number of hikers and backcountry users is annually increasing at a rate double that of Metro Vancouver (so around 2.3%).   These huge spikes of usage in some areas must be the result of other...

JOFFRE LAKES PARK VISITOR CAPACITY SET TO 1,500 PEOPLE PER DAY According to the Visitor Use Capacity and Fee Background document released by BC Parks in February 2020: Our methodology for identifying a visitor carrying capacity is based on a review of published papers on the topic, recommendations from the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and the United States Visitor Use Management Framework. The analysis on visitor capacity was based on many sources of information...

Time for some answers and some digging on the part of Backcountry BC.    Below is today's inquiry to the ministry with the second being the critical ask.   Hello xxxx,   I have some questions pertaining to the BC Parks Day Pass program. Could you provide me with the following information?   What is the philosophy and rationale behind the present limiting of user numbers to the affected parks and trails listed in the subsequent paragraph.   Secondly,...

Let's all do our part.   Please do not have campfires and build fire pits in any alpine environment.   I have included a short educational article below on the negative impacts of fires in the Alpine from the ACC Vancouver Island.   Do your part, and share this information and educational material.Reference:...

"10 calls in two days, with a total of 13 since August 5th." As volunteer trail builders we have been stretched to the limit this year, and I can only imagine what this year has imposed upon the personal lives of the incredibly dedicated volunteers of our local SAR teams. A big thank you to each and every one of you from Backcountry BC. Reference:...

Two parcels of land totalling 76 hectares near the renowned North Coast Trail in Cape Scott Provincial Park have been purchased by BC Parks. The deal included 129 hectares of land on Haida Gwaii, for just under $1 million. Click here for full article:  https://www.vicnews.com/news/addition-pending-to-cape-scott-provincial-park/?fbclid=IwAR3Xockj16kk2UoTjAcxXNs3nrcmuquurFVDNiwQrR7Dt0VMsAZAywSej9o

2020 - The year of the backcountry recreation and conservation advocate - a personal reflection One of my New Year's resolutions for 2020 was to take it easy and to take a break from advocacy, smell the roses, and enjoy the simple and pleasant things of life; do more fun things. So what the heck happened? Where did all this muck come from and why do I always blindly charge and plunge full speed into it? Maybe I am just a glutton for punishment, or maybe I lack impulse control and just...

Problems at Lake Lovely Water July 25th (Photos below) A perfect storm of a late start to summer weather, COVID travel restrictions, user displacement, Instagram word of mouth, and a lack of infrastructure, funding and government enforcement of park management plans. From a concerned source Observations: There were 22 tents (at least 60 people) camping at the very small sandspit site, which has only has one outhouse, no bear cache, and inadequate places for a proper and safe...

First designated a park 25 years ago, the 380-square-kilometre park occupies an area nearly half the size of the Kingdom of Bahrain. Since its opening, it has lacked a plan that would regulate the use of the park, something that has contributed to a kind of free-for-all where snowmobilers and mountain bikers, as well as hikers and mountaineers, carve out their own routes through its forests, peaks and valleys. Full Article:...

“A group of 17 hikers needed to be rescued from Widgeon Lake, high in Burke-Pinecone Provincial Park. They had flown in on a chartered floatplane, but bad weather was keeping them from getting out.” Reference:  https://globalnews.ca/news/7259529/campers-rescued-widgeon-lake-search-rescue/?utm_medium=Facebook&utm_source=GlobalBC&fbclid=IwAR0tHXOfg_J1WVXa5FXY5jkoHwhklYUWn_yarHKYbInCWJcfH4sgraL0Jv4