Dear Editor:
My name is Russ Turner, owner of Skaha Rock Adventures Ltd., a rock climbing and mountaineering school, operating in Penticton since 1994.
As an outdoor guiding business, my business partner and I want it to be known that we fully support the concept of forming a South Okanagan Similkameen national park.
Born and raised in Kelowna, a small town of less than 9,000 persons at the time, I have witnessed first hand the explosive population growth in the Okanagan Valley since then.
Most of the prime land is gone and what remains won’t be there to save for long, due to continued residential, industrial and agricultural growth.
I have spent 35 years of my life working as an outward bound mountain instructor and as a professional mountain guide in Manning Provincial Park, Cathedral Provincial Park, Skaha Bluffs Provincial Park and Okanagan Mountain Provincial Park.
I have always thought that these parks, together with the Snowy Mountain Wilderness Area, deserved more connectivity between themselves and the South Okanagan Similkameen national park is a natural fit to connect and protect all of these precious regions.
With connectivity in mind, I also strongly feel that Area 2 (Mt. Kobau), East Vaseux Protected Area and the Fairview Townsite be included together with national park Areas 1 & 3 of the province’s updated proposal.
Since Skaha Rock Adventures’ inception, we have completed more than 35,000 client days of training in Manning, Cathedral, Skaha and Okanagan Mountain Provincial Parks.
As an example for potential growth, annual visitor use in Skaha Bluffs Provincial Park in 1994 was 3,000 user visits, whereas last year there were more than 50,000 user visits in this park alone.
Ninety per cent of our clientele travel from all corners of the world to join us to hike and climb in these regions.
As a commercial operator in these parks, we average over 150 course training days annually, providing high paying jobs which support our local economy.
With national park status, the South Okanagan’s tourism growth will bloom as we create another Banff-Lake Louise-Jasper linear park structure for tourists to visit and enjoy .
Just for the record, a total of 3.6 million visitors passed through Banff National Park this past year.
As a local business in Penticton, we wholeheartedly support the creation of a South Okanagan Similkameen National Park.
Russ Turner
Beth Warlow
Skaha Rock Adventures Penticton, B.C.
