Ring: Sept. 19, 2002: Diamonds in the rough

This was my tag-line on a 3,450-kilometre bike ride through the roads, trails and pathways of Vancouver Island and southern B.C. this summer. I said it whenever I stopped to take a picture, admire the view, splash in a stream, or just take a rest. I wasn’t the only one stopping, my fellow UVic cyclists, Mike Whitney and Mark Weston, were also smitten with the beauty and diversity of B.C.

After our busy but desk-bound work at UVic, we appreciated how easy it was to get “up close and personal” with B.C. from the seat of a bicycle.

Our route took us up Vancouver Island via back roads to Port Hardy, by ferry to Bella Coola, over the Heckman pass and through the Chilcotin to Williams Lake, through the Cariboo and into Revelstoke. We continued from Revelstoke to Creston through the West Kootenays, onto the Trans-Canada Trail (the Kettle Valley Railway Trail), from Castlegar to Hope, and through the lower Fraser Valley back to Victoria. We had good weather, fantastic scenery, some great campsites, interesting wildlife and diverse terrain. It was certainly a trip to remember.

We were on the road for 46 days. We stayed four nights at B&Bs, three nights with friends, and camped the rest of the time. We didn’t rush, our average travelling distance was about 79 km per day.
From Nakusp to Hope we traveled extensively on abandoned railway beds. This gave us the chance to explore off the beaten track. As overwhelmingly positive as our experience was, I have to note that all is not as it should be in some of B.C.’s backcountry—garbage, poor maintenance and rowdy elements are creeping in.

The problem seems to lie in recreation areas that were once managed by the B.C. Forest Service. In 2002, the Forest Service maintained 600 sites with decreased staff. The remaining 700 are user-managed. After staying in some of the maintained sites, I can report that even the basics (e.g. taking out garbage, attending to pit toilets) were non-existent. By 2004 the Forest Service will not maintain any of these sites, but hopes to hand them over to whoever is interested in looking after them.

User-maintained sites suffer when only one or two users don’t clean up after themselves. Maintained sites suffer when no one seems to know who is in charge—users get confused, take the easy way out and leave sites dirty. In our backcountry travel we came upon sites where food had been left to rot in firepits. Not the smartest action in bear country.

Other sites, clearly labelled “User maintained, pack it in, pack it out,” featured semi-burned tins, plastic bags and bottles and other trash left for someone else to dispose of. At Thirsk Lake Recreation Site northwest of Summerland we even came upon used, disposable baby diapers, carefully wrapped up, tied off, and placed in the firepit. This was about 15 metres away from a “Pack it in – pack it out” sign. What were these people thinking? Are they lacking in outdoor education, or is it simply that we can’t trust some people to be out on their own in the woods?

Another disturbing trend—rude and rowdy behaviour in the backcountry. At Arlington Lakes, a managed B.C. Forest Service site in the mountains south of Kelowna, we were treated to at least six hours of unrequested music. I seem to recall a Meatloaf retrospective, followed by the best of Shania Twain. The music was so loud that all of the 12 widely spaced campsites in this lovely little valley could hear the aforementioned selections. Of course, this led to music wars, with other groups turning on (and up) their music.

Obviously, these incidents were a very tiny part of an otherwise exceptional tour. So why the concern? Because these incidents look like a trend. They were clustered in backcountry areas relatively close to big population centres (e.g. Okanagan). They were similar in type—garbage, maintenance, and education problems. And, in comparison with our positive experiences in provincial parks, these problem areas stood out.

I don’t believe the province is acting responsibly with respect to our 1,300 Forest Service recreation areas. Users with good backcountry skills will stay away, leaving these lovely areas to those with shoddy skills. Left unchecked, this will have consequences for tourism, conservation and user safety. Unsuspecting visitors to these areas will leave with a poor opinion of beautiful B.C. (and will no doubt tell their friends), habitat will be degraded and unpleasant encounters with wildlife could become more common as uncollected garbage accumulates.

Managing parks and wilderness areas isn’t like a group bike ride—there will be no catching up later if chunks of our land base are left behind or forgotten today. What can be done? Make your opinions known to the provincial government. A recreation stewardship panel has been convened to look at these issues. Although the process seems to lack direct public input and is very hurried, the government is going to rely heavily upon the recommendations of this group. Check out <www.praxis.ca/recpanel/index.html> for more information.

Lest I leave on too depressing a note, let me encourage everyone to take on a “journey of discovery” in B.C. May you be as surprised and delighted with B.C.’s beauty and diversity as I was. And, wherever we go, may we all step lightly on the earth.

Mary Sanseverino is a senior lecturer in the department of computer science and an avid cyclist. She’s currently on a leave of absence.