Park Act (B.C.)

 

 

General Description [Note: I’ve not used this heading on any of the pages, although they’ve been used in the DFO materials.  Re: Strategic Application, I haven’t used that heading on any, although some sense of how people might want to use the Act should be included.  For example, if I want to get a park created, how would I go about doing that?]

The Park Act is the main legislation governing protected areas in British Columbia.  It provides for the designation and administration of:

 

·           provincial parks,

·          recreation areas, and

·          nature conservancy areas. 

 

The Park Act is administered by the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection.   Aspects of the Park Act can also apply to other provincial land use designations, such as ecological reserves, greenbelt land and private land, in certain circumstances. 

Provincial Parks

Provincial parks designated under the Park Act are tThe main "protected areas" in British Columbia are “provincial parks” under the Park Act. All provincial parks are "dedicated to the preservation of their natural environments for the inspiration, use and enjoyment of the public" under subsection(s. 5(3) of the Park Act).

The Park Act offers strong protection for natural resources within parks.,  No because interests in land cannot be sold, leased or granted, and natural resources cannot be removed, from any provincial park, except as authorized by a park use permit.  “Natural resources” are broadly defined to mean "land, water and atmosphere, their mineral, vegetable and other components, and includes the flora and fauna on and in them." However, fish and wildlife may be caught or hunted in a park if authorized under the Wildlife Act.

There are three classes of provincial parks:

·          Class A parks are the most common designation and receive the highest level of protection.  There are over 550 Class A parks in BC, comprising almost 10 million hectares, or about 11% of the provincial land base.

·          Class B parks allow resource extraction so long as it is not detrimental to the recreational values of the park. The concept of a Class B park is not generally consistent with public expectations of what a protected area should be, so most Class B parks have been upgraded to Class A status over time. There are only two Class B parks, Strathcona-Westmin and Sooke Mountain, currently remaining in the park system.

·          Class C parks are usually smaller in size, and focus on providing recreational amenities to local communities. They receive the same degree of high legal protection as Class A parks, but they are managed by a park board appointed by the Minister of Environment, Land and Parks. 

The Park Act has very strict ‘tests’ on when a park use permit may be issued. The tests vary according to the class of the park.

For Class A and Class C parks, a park use permit cannot be issued unless it is "necessary to preserve or maintain the recreational values of the park involved."

For Class B parks, a permit cannot be issued unless to do so is "not detrimental to the recreational values of the park concerned."

The only exceptions to this are for some parks where ongoing non-conforming uses, such as cattle grazing, have been grand-parented.

Recreation Areas

In addition to provincial parks, the Park Act provides for the designation of recreation areas.  Recreation areas offer less legal protection for natural resources than park designations.   Natural resources in recreation areas generally must not be removed or disturbed "except as may be approved by the minister" under a resource use permit. The legislation does not have the same strict tests for issuance of resource use permits as it does for park use permits, resulting in a greater level of discretion on the part of park managers in recreation areas.

The intention behind recreation areas was that they would serve as a useful interim designation, pending a ten-year mineral exploration window. At the end of the ten-year window, a decision would be made as to whether mineral values or park values had priority. Where mineral values were not proven or profitable to exploit, the intention was that these recreation areas would be upgraded to Class A park status.

Nature Conservancy Areas

Nature conservancy areas are areas within a park or recreation area that are designated by Order-in-Council for special protection.  They are not a class of park per se, but may be seen as a zone within a park for which additional legal protection is provided in the Park Act. A nature conservancy area is defined in the Act as a “roadless area, in a park or recreation area, retained in a natural condition for the preservation of its ecological environment and scenic features.”

The effect of the designation is that natural resources must not be "granted, sold, removed, destroyed, damaged, disturbed or exploited" at all, other than fish and wildlife uses, if authorized, under the Wildlife Act. 

Related Topics

·          Canada National Parks Act

·          Parks (Regional) Act

·          Local Government parks

Background Material and ContactsFor more information on the Parks Act:

·          Electronic version of the B.C. Parks Act.:  

·          http://www.qp.gov.bc.ca/statreg/stat/P/96344_01.htm

·          BC Parks web site, Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection.

·          Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society – The B.C. Chapter of a nation-wide environmental organization dedicated to the maintenance and protection of Canadian parks. 

·          Friends of BC Parks – A Coalition dedicated to the protection of BC’s park system.  

·          Save Our Parks  - A Coalition of B.C. Environmental Groups concerned about the degradation of the province’s park system.