Dear Editor:
For those who were in favour of a national park for this area, my question is “how many parks are required in B.C.?”
Some 25 years ago I received information from the B.C. Parks Branch with a list of all the parks in our province.
The total acreage was, believe it or not, the same acreage as the entire countries of Netherlands plus Belgium plus Luxembourg plus Northern France and part of Denmark.
And it did not include municipal parks.
Since that time one more national park was established at Desolation Sound and, of course, most of Moresby Island.
For the people concerned about wildlife corridors from northern Canada through to the southern United States, I wonder if any of the advocates for this southern national park looked to see if it tied in with American national parks.
I did not see this on any maps that I studied.
I can’t agree with those who says “sure we should have another park to save beauty for our kids.”
Just how many parks can we afford? This is the most important question that hasn’t been answered by anyone who is in favour of a new national park.
This also begs the question to those living outside these proposed boundaries, and that is, would you be prepared to pay all the fees the national parks branch charges to the people and the visitors to the people who are living within these boundaries?
I would also ask the question to park supporters “would you like to live in an area ruled by a national parks branch in Ottawa?”
What contol do you believe you or your children will have if this branch put in new rules that you don’t like?
If this situation comes up again in the future, I sure hope that the above points will be considered as well. This is a very important matter and I think the issue of affordability has been seriously overlooked.
Peter Newport
Osoyoos, B.C.
