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Province to expand protected areas, Mount Robson by one hectare

Visitors centre parking lot to be included in the park's total area
Hanna Petersen
Hanna Petersen
Mount Robson Provincial Park
Mount Robson Provincial Park in north-central B.C. (via Shutterstock)

The province is expanding protected areas at provincial parks throughout B.C. including Mount Robson.

The proposed legislative amendments to the Protected Areas of British Columbia Act would add more than 2,258 hectares of land or foreshore to nine existing provincial parks and one conservancy.

These consist of a combination of private land acquisitions, Crown land and foreshore additions.

Boundary modifications to enable land exchanges and make administrative corrections would also be made at Elk Falls Provincial Park near Campbell River, Peace River corridor Park, Moberly Lake Park, the Purcell Wilderness Conservancy Park and Goat Range Park.

The province says amendments to the Protected Areas of British Columbia Act are regularly required to add land to parks and conservancies, modify or correct boundaries and improve boundary descriptions.

Proposed amendments to Mount Robson Park, the second oldest park in B.C.’s park system, would add an additional hectare.

It is home to it’s namesake Mount Robson, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies at 3,954 metres. With Jasper National Park as its easterly neighbour, Mount Robson Park comprises a portion of one of the world’s largest blocks of protected areas.  

The province now wants to transfer the parking lot of the visitor centre to BC Parks from the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, which would add the additional hectare.

The total area of this park will now be 225, 286 hectares.

B.C. has one of the largest part systems in North America with 1,036 provincial parks, recreation areas, conservancies, ecological reserves and protected areas covering more than 14 million hectares or approximately 14.4 per cent of the provincial land base.

The province is also proposing to create a new provincial park on southern Vancouver Island to protected a vital ecosystem important to the Cowichan people.

Legislation has been introduced to establish a new 143-hectare Class A park near the Koksilah River in the Cowichan Valley. To recognize Indigenous connections in two other provincial parks, Chilliwack Lake Park will be renamed Sxótsaqel / Chilliwack Lake Park (Skot-sa-qel), and Newcastle Island Marine Park will be renamed Saysutshun (Newcastle Island Marine) Park (SAY-sut-shun).

The majority (629) of provincial parks in the system are Class A – which means lands dedicated for the preservation of their natural environment and for public use and enjoyment.