Outdoor recreation is booming in BC, bringing in millions of dollars into the province every year, but consistent funding for groups that maintain trail and recreation sites fall short of expectations, including in the qathet region.
What is now called the qathet Canoe Route, a popular destination among locals and visitors, is a 57-kilometre route that runs through eight lakes with multiple campsites, set among soaring mountains and cedar forests. Powell River Educational Services Society (PRESS) is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the route, but for many years the group has struggled to maintain it due to high costs and lack of consistent funding.
Project manager Hugh Prichard said a sharp increase in visitors has been noted and upgrades have become necessary.
"Over the last five years, we've made substantial improvement with funding from Island Coastal Economic Trust (ICET) into a whole range of amenities, mostly focusing on six arterial or hub recreation sites," said Prichard.
Recently, PRESS received a grant of $10,000 from the Outdoor Recreation Council of BC (ORCBC) for qathet Canoe Route enhancement and repairs to three portage trails.
Volunteers maintain trails and recreational sites
ORCBC executive director Louise Pedersen said not a lot of people actually know that trails and recreation amenities in BC are mostly maintained by volunteer groups. Most of the maintenance on the local canoe route is done by volunteers and PRESS work program participants.
"These volunteer groups, and you've got many in your region, often work in partnership with BC parks, local governments and First Nation groups," Pedersen. "They do fundraising, and they put all that work in, but a lot of these groups are facing financial difficulties with funding and volunteer recruitment."
Prichard said in the last few years there has been substantial investment mostly around the recreational sites.
"There's six that got a major overhaul, along with addressing some critical safety rebuilds on some bridges and boardwalks," said Prichard.
Costs are rising
Although he appreciates the ORCBC grant, it doesn't solve long-term problems faced by PRESS.
"With the price of building materials, operating costs and labour, PRESS depends completely on volunteers and proposals for funding that are written as part of our partnership agreement with various funders, including the ORCBC," said Prichard. "The funding is typically project-based, as opposed to ongoing maintenance; so what happens is, things get deteriorated to an extreme state, and then we are forced to perform triage on expensive repairs."
The group used to be allowed to use wood that was readily available around the site for building bridges and trails, but changes in legislation now restrict that.
"Transporting materials by helicopter or labour on foot is extremely expensive, not to mention buying lumber at retail costs," said Prichard.
Canoe route challenged by forestry work
The canoe route exists in the overlapping territory of the Tla'amin and shíshálh (Sechelt) Nation, but also Tree Farm Licence (TFL) 39 Block 1, which is managed by Western Forest Products.
"The route is continually challenged in a very aggressive way by the industry," said Prichard. "I'm going to stress the very aggressive way [the forest company operates]; damages caused by forest licence holders continually disregards their recreational values of the land."
Prichard emphasized that PRESS has always tried to maintain a respectful partnership with forest companies but in recent years it's been difficult.
Under the Forest and Range Practices Act there are requirements by licensees to maintain, such as buffer zones, so as not to impact recreation sites.
"As of today, I'm looking at photographs [of the route] that basically shut down the canoe route as of now, as a result of licensees violating the act," said Prichard. "The company has been logging into and onto the boundary of trails and rec sites. Even when a five-to-10-metre buffer is applied to these locations, there are 35 large trees that are tangled into a mess over a portage trail."
Prichard said he isn't making the photographs public yet, because they need to go through the channels with the ministry of forests first.
"This happens routinely every year, destroying the infrastructure we've built," said Prichard. "Forest companies are citing tariffs, and market conditions as reasons why they can't provide any financial assistance to not-for-profits like ourselves, that are doing the best we can, but are losing the battle when it comes to the use of our backcountry areas for recreational values."
A valuable resource under pressure
Prichard said PRESS has been maintaining the route since 1996 and recently did an inventory of the amenities, such as bridges, boardwalks and campsites.
"It's a multi-million dollar, untold amount of revenue each year," said Prichard. "Since we put new improvements at major campsites and put log books in all the new outhouses that are composting and state-of-the-art, we can note that some of these sites are used by upwards of 200 people a month."
Prichard said PRESS was involved at the beginning to build the first huts on the Sunshine Coast Trail, along with the Outdoor Learning Centre.
"Looking back 25 years ago, we didn't really understand the importance of these recreational amenities to the economic pillars of our community," said Prichard. "But the reality is that forest companies have profit as their major value, and it feels like we're losing the battle."
Prichard said PRESS has tried to be good partners with forestry companies over the years on the basis that the two parties could be stronger together. In the past, Western Forest Products provided financial and in-kind contributions for various projects.
World class amenities needs funding to stay that way
"Sunshine Coast Tourism and other destination marketing organizations, the province in general, continually market these amenities as world class," said Prichard. "But the flow of dollars to be able to maintain them is nonexistent."
Prichard said PRESS recently designed a brand new map to tell the story of the canoe route.
"Our involvement, or the reason we're involved, is from a conservation and stewardship perspective, and connecting young people to valuable work skills," he added.
Economic benefits
Outfitters, hotels and local businesses receive the economic multiplier when guests come to the qathet. Prichard wants the provincial ministry of tourism to step up with more funding for these outdoor amenities maintained by volunteers.
"We're definitely expecting parks, trails and backcountry areas across the province to see a huge increase in use," said Pedersen. "Anecdotally, we hear about a lot of people not wanting to go to the US until things have normalized."
This increase, Pederson said, translates into more wear and tear on trails and outdoor amenities.
"It has never been more important that we fully fund the work these groups do, but also that we develop more opportunities for people to hike,” she added. “We want to make sure we are offering locals and visitors places that are safe and sustainable. At the moment, it's not sustainable.”
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