Whereas the rapidly increasing popularity of adventure tourism is having adverse impacts to the natural environment, such as increased humanwildlife conflicts, the closures of popular destinations to unmanageable volume, garbage, and an increased risk of wildfire in remote areas: Therefore be it resolved that the Province be requested to match the investment made in their Tourism Marketing with a commensurate investment in infrastructure, maintenance, enforcement, and staffing to assistant in mitigating the resulting challenges of increased visitor volumes at local Provincial parks and other backcountry areas; And be it further resolved that a trail booking and reservation system fee structure be developed to mitigate day-to-day impacts to the natural environment.
Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Government is supporting the adventure tourism sector through a cross-ministry working group and ongoing engagement with the Adventure Tourism Coalition of 19 sector associations representing nature-based experiences across the province. Government is also supporting the strategic development of tourism through the Destination Development Planning program being led by Destination BC. This initiative, currently in the second year of a three-year program, will result in the creation of 10-year tourism development plans for 20 distinct areas across the province. Partner ministries are also investing in infrastructure to support outdoor recreation and adventure tourism. BC Parks has operational and campsite expansion budgets that include projects and facilities in backcountry areas. An additional 1 million has been approved for 2018-19 for backcountry facility investment. Recreations Sites and Trails RST in the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development manages trails and facilities on Crown land outside of parks, and has an estimated budget of 11 million for 2018-19. This includes 650,000 in funding to support maintenance, 1.4 million capital investment in new and renovated infrastructure, and 1.8 million as part of a campsite expansion project. Where use levels and demand warrant, BC Parks and RST are implementing reservation systems for high demand recreation sites, particularly on the coast. Rather than consider reservations and fees for trails, RST is piloting work on implementation of a comprehensive Visitor Use Management Framework to better guide decisions on approvals, management and investment in recreation infrastructure.