B.C. parks need more funds to cope with demand
This past weekend marked the beginning of the busy summer season in British Columbia’s parks as hikers, campers and social media influencers streamed out of urban centres, bound for popular outdoor destinations.
But across the province, parks have been feeling the strain of increased use: social media is attracting record attendance at scenic locations like Joffre Lakes, that saw more than 170,000 visitors last year alone, and B.C. Parks has struggled to keep up with demand. Recent efforts to limit wear and tear on the province’s wild places have included restricting access by dog owners, but the provincial government has been quiet about a long-term plan to address booming demand for wilderness. A quick look at B.C. Parks’ annual reports suggests the problem may not be with dog owners, but with economics.
Since 2010, B.C. Parks has become squeezed between a growing number of visitors and a shrinking budget. In May 2011, then-premier Christy Clark eliminated fees in day use parking areas, leaving a $826,000 hole in B.C. Parks’ annual budget the following year. The move, which was intended to attract park visitors, had the desired effect. Over the next five years, while park attendance grew by nearly 27 per cent, total expenditures on parks fell by nearly two per cent.
The B.C. Government and Service Employees Union (BCGEU) sounded the alarm that B.C. Parks was understaffed for its role of managing 14 million hectares of protected areas and in 2017, in the leadup to the provincial election, Clark pledged $35 million over three years to hire more park rangers, support programs and create 1,900 new campsites. But with the change in government, it’s unclear whether this commitment will be upheld: Budget 2018 mentions only $5 million over three years for new campsites. Meanwhile, the visitors just keep coming.
Economics suggests the problem is clear: demand for wild places is exceeding sustainable supply, causing overcrowding and degradation. But it also offers several possible solutions.
Re-introducing day use parking fees could ease the tide of visitors while helping B.C. Parks to bank much-needed cash.
Ensuring revenue from those fees goes toward park management, instead of general government revenues, and even allocating a portion of taxes, such as the Municipal and Regional District Tax, could also help create more parks to meet growing demand. Creating a pass system like the Vancouver Inspiration Pass — a free cultural and recreational pass program offered through the Vancouver Public Library — could ensure day use parking fees don’t discourage families from visiting. A similar solution could be extended to recreation sites and trails, which are the responsibility of the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations.
Re-introducing user fees is, of course, a politically unpopular move and some will argue that day use parking fees will reduce the number of visitors, but continued inaction will yield no better outcome. B.C. Parks has already sought to limit access indirectly, through restrictions on dog owners, but this will do little to slow growth of visitation overall.
When parks become overcrowded and degraded, visitation eventually becomes self-limiting: congested parking areas, insufficient campsites, litter and fouled latrines will discourage visitors and do lasting environmental damage. A negative experience can be as strong a deterrent as a user fee — and more difficult to reverse.
The fact remains that providing access to parks and public lands has costs. Ignoring those costs, while politically preferable to imposing fees, does not make them disappear. As a caretaker of public lands, the provincial government has a responsibility to address these costs by recognizing and capturing the value of visitation and investing in protecting and expanding recreational opportunities. Without additional funding, British Columbia’s park rangers will continue to work with one arm tied behind their back.