Following on Premier Christy Clark's announcement the day before, a bill was introduced in the provincial legislature Wednesday to designate the Ancient Forest a provincial park.
Also known as Chun T'oh Wudujut (pronounced Chun Toe Wood-yu-jud) in the Lheidli T'enneh language, it's located 120 kilometres east of Prince George, and is home to an inland temperate rainforest made up of hemlock and western cedar trees as old as 1,000 years and with trunks up to 16 metres around.
Opposition New Democrat leader John Horgan said his party supports the move.
"Doubling of parks from six per cent to 12 per cent of the landbase is one of the proudest legacies of the New Democrat government of the 1990s," Horgan said in a statement.
"Those achievements came with the cooperation and hard work of environmentalists, forest companies, workers, First Nations, local communities and many other participants.
"This new provincial park will be a welcome addition."
The Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative also applauded the move and called for an expansion of the protected area devoted to the so-called "Northern Wetbelt."
"Only 14 percent of the Northern Wetbelt is currently protected from logging (including Ancient Forest Park)," said Y2Y B.C. and Yukon program director Candace Batycki in a statement.
"A much larger conservation strategy is urgently needed for the inland temperate rainforests of the Northern Wetbelt region, including a network of protected areas that will protect the area's remaining old-growth forests.
"The Ancient Forest Park is an excellent first step toward that goal."
The bill also proposes to add land or marine foreshore to five parks and one conservancy, adjust the boundary of one park, and make administrative changes to clarify park descriptions.
The measures include adding 98 hectares of donated private land to Tweedsmuir Provincial Park, as well as adding 263 hectares to Okanagan Mountain Park on the east side of Okanagan Lake, 136-hectares of foreshore to Halkett Bay Marine Park in the Howe Sound, 28.5 hectares to the Sheemahant Conservancy, a remote rainforest along B.C.'s central coast and 2.2 hectares of land and 1.9 hectares of foreshore to Prudhomme Lake Park near Prince Rupert.
