Meeting held in Oliver on how to get word out about petition
Opponents to a national park in the South Okanagan made their voices heard, and they're spreading the word.
At a meeting held January 12 in Oliver, the Grasslands Park Review Coalition, a group opposed to establishment of a national park in the area, hosted several speakers with objections to the park.
Parks Canada is currently conducting feasibility studies of an area from the United States border to above Penticton, though the actual size of any nationial park established in the area will be much smaller, according to park officials. They have also conducted several open houses to gauge public opinion about the park.
Norton also encouraged the audience to gather signatures for a petition they intend to give to MLA Bill Barisoff.
I met with Bill Barisoff on Monday, and one thing he knows is how to count, Coalition spokesman Greg Norton said.
He added with a provincial election coming up in May, it was imperative for stakeholders in areas that could be affected by the park to make their voices heard.
A park can't be established without the signature of the premier of the day to approve it, he said.
But he also pointed out while the meeting was packed with over 100 people holding the same negative opinion about a national park, a petition of more than 5,000 signatures is necessary to register their feelings with the government.
The meeting also hosted several key speakers who explained their opposition to the proposed national park.
Carl McNaughton, the South Okanagan Conservation Land Manager for the Nature Trust of British Columbia gave an overview of the non-profit land conservation organization's activities.
The Nature Trust is in favor of biodiversity ranching, which integrates livestock management along with endangered species protection.
He added the Trust also restores disturbed sites to their natural state.
The activities of the Nature Trust mean we already have a group preserving the land, Norton said.
Mark Quaedvleig, a rancher in Keremeos, also spoke to the crowd. Quaedvleig had participated in the formulation of the Land Reserve Management Plan, a provincial-level set over negotiations between various stakeholders that spanned over five and a half years.
The LRMP was a well-balanced process, and a good plan for the area. But by signing off for a national park, the provincial government gutted the LRMP, Quaedvleig said.
He added every single participant on the LRMP process, with the exception of the mining industry, showed agreement on the plan, and he did not see the need to invalidate those agreements with a national park.
Joan Mackay, who represented the B.C. Sportsmen's Association, pointed to the millions of dollars spent by hunter every year by hunters in the Okanagan area. A national park would not allow hunting within its boundaries.
A total of 7.5 million gets spent in hunting expenditures in B.C., she said.
Norton also pointed to Doug Cowe, an outdoorsman from Kaleden attending the meeting, as one individual who spends over $20,000 on hunting per year.
Though the Grasslands Coalition is opposed to a national park in the area, they invited Brian Brown, the manager of Parks Canada's feasibility study, to speak to the group.
Brown explained the process involved in studying the park, and pointed out the study area would not make up the boundaries of the national park, if it comes to pass.
The study area isn't the national park, at this point we don't have a national park, he said.
He added while Parks Canada can study the feasibility (or lack thereof) of a park, the final decision would rest with the government.
At the end of the day, it's a political decision, but hopefully that decision is based on good information from the process, he said.
He added he hoped those in attendance would look at the information gathered by Parks Canada before making a final decision.
Look at what we have to offer, then make the decision, he said. He added 900 people have attended the open houses recently held in the South Okanagan.
Eike Scheffler, the district manager for Area 'A' of the Regional District of the Okanagan Similkameen, asked what role First Nations groups would have in a national park.
They're going to have a big stake, or at least a say, in what happens with a park, Scheffler said.
Brown said all four bands and the Okanagan Alliance have consulted with Parks Canada.
