BC Liberals Allow Bulldozers into South Chilcotin Mountains Park : WC Mediawire

Environmental Community Furious as BC Liberals
Allow Bulldozers into South Chilcotin Mountains Park
Park Boundaries Rolled Back by 14,600 Hectares to Accommodate Mining Interests

Vancouver, British Columbia – In a stunning move the British Columbia provincial government announced this afternoon that the 72,000 hectare South Chilcotin Mountains Park would be reduced by fully 20%. In response to heavy lobbying by BC’s powerful mining industry, backed by Teck Cominco, the government capitulated and sliced off 14,600 hectares from the popular park, which is home to grizzly bears, mountain goats, bighorn sheep and a vibrant tourism industry.

“People are astounded. We had been hearing rumors about the proposed cutbacks for months, but everyone was hoping that the government wouldn’t cave in to the mining lobby. This is unprecedented. We haven’t lost a park in BC since the 1960’s. It is a disastrous decision and shows that no park is safe in the province under Gordon Campbell,” said an angry Joe Foy, National Campaign Director for the Wilderness Committee.

The decision to roll back the park’s boundaries was announced by George Abbott, the Minister of Sustainable Resource Development, when the government unveiled the completed Lillooet and Morice land use proposals. The proposals will not be finalized until “government to government” talks are completed with First Nations in the regions.

“Is this what the government means when they say that BC is open for business? They are carving the province up piece by piece and selling it to the highest bidder. The decision to roll back the boundaries of the South Chilcotin Mountains Park is reckless, poorly thought out and definitely not in the best interests of the people of BC. This is about government currying the favour of big business to the detriment of the citizens of this province,” remarked a furious Foy.

South Chilcotin Mountains Park, officially known as Spruce Lake Park, was established by the outgoing NDP government in April 2001 through an “Order in Council,” that stipulated the area be protected as a Class “A” provincial park. The NDP protected the park upon the completion of the original Lillooet land use plan, an arduous consensus-based process that took seven years to complete. 13 other protected areas were also identified in the original process, eight of which received official protection in today’s announcement.

The decision to roll back the parks’ boundaries is largely considered to be a symbolic victory to the mining lobby as the area has been extensively explored for viable ore bodies for decades without success. Critics of the controversial decision point out that industry giant Teck Cominco, a strong advocate to roll back the park’s boundaries, has contributed $735,000 to the BC Liberals over the past 8 years, making them the single largest BC Liberal donor.

South Chilcotin Mountains Park was first proposed for protection in 1938. It is located 80 km north of Whistler. Spectacular alpine meadows, lakes and myriad hiking trails have made it a popular tourist destination. Government reports acknowledge that the area has greater value as a tourist destination than it does for resource extraction.

“We are going to work very hard until we get all our park back – every square inch of it,” vowed Foy.
For more information, please contact:
Joe Foy, Wilderness Committee Campaign Director: 604-880-2580 (cell)

I am furious with Mr. Campbell!
Selling out 20% of the South Chilcotin Park to the mining company which supports his personal political interests is scandalous. Surly there must be a legal recourse to his actions, which do not reflect the best interests, or will of British Columbians. He must be removed from office as soon as possible before he further damages our province.
How can this be achieved?

My Wife and I are very pi$$ed off that this beautiful park has become yet another victim of Gordon Campbell’s ideological driven agenda. Destroying 20% of this park just to please his financial backers in the mining community is deplorable, especially since there is nothing of any real significant mining value here. I hope the first nation’s people of this area oppose and fight this disastrous decision to the very end.

Actually, here’s my theory. Quickly after finding nothing of mineral interest in this area of the park (which we already know), the mining community will hand their 20% over to big developers who will in turn build destination hotels and lodges on the property while the mining community walks away with a tidy profit. This just seems to be a dirty, sneaky way of allowing companies like Intrawest into this beautiful highly desirable park to set up yet another over priced Whistler style playground for the wealthy.

We must somehow fight to keep this park in its entirety so I say hands off our Provincial Park Gordo!

Mr. and Mrs. Kaybertoss.

Shame on you Mr. Campbell. Wilderness areas are a create way to attract investment as they create Quality of Life. Every yeay, there is less wilderness and wild areas become even bigger draws for people and investment in High tech and other footloose industies!

Ok then, as Mr. Hume said in the Sun " .. end runs beget end runs". Let's see , using the precedent of non-consensus ( alleged in this case ) we can therefore expect the Vancouver Island Land Use Plan to be re-opened in the future. And there's no doubt about non-consensus in this one . Most every party ; fisheries, aboriginal, tourism, environment sectors etc were AGAINST that plan. Of course , with just forestry for it .. that was a majority and a consensus????

I am absolutely ashamed that the government is giving over 20% of this park to mining interests. I went hiking in the area for 17 days as part of an Outward Bound program...and those 17 days inspired me to pursue a Bachelors of Environmental Science. This area is spectacularly beautiful and should be preserved for future generations.

i went hiking in the chilcotin mountains for two weeks. two of the most meaningful weeks of my life. it is one of those few regions left that is truly uncivilized and where grizzlies are free to roam. killing this beauty for profit is disgusting.

Western Canada Wilderness Committee

Western Canada Wilderness Committee