Whereas provincial recreation sites and trails are highly valued community assets which are important to the provincial tourism economy and require dedicated, coordinated and ongoing management; And whereas provincial funding provided through recreation sites and trails agreements has been significantly decreasing over the years, while local governments and non-profit community partners are becoming increasingly challenged to adequately manage the ongoing maintenance, operation and service demands required due to a lack of resources: Therefore be it resolved that the provincial government be urged to increase funding provided through recreation sites and trails partnership agreements to ensure local governments and community partners are properly resourced and have the necessary support required to be effective in their role as managers, caretakers and stewards of BCs provincial recreation assets.
Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development The Recreation Sites and Trails BC branch RSTBC has over 400 volunteer partnership agreements for maintenance of recreation facilities in the province. Volunteer partnership agreement holders are provided authorization for basic site and trail maintenance activities, 3rd party liability and accidental death and dismemberment insurance and in some cases may qualify for some reimbursement of incidental expenses. Where costs of operating sites or trails exceed the maintenance budgets of RSTBC and the volunteers, user-pay, cost-recovery fee systems are instituted. Fees are currently in place for approximately 140 partnership agreements across the province, however not all sites and trails are suited for the successful implementation of a fee system. Where funds are required for the maintenance of sites, partners are encouraged to consider applications to seek outside funding and community volunteer support. The total budget and staff resources of RSTBC have increased over the previous 5 years, however the significant increase in partnership agreements over the previous 5 years has resulted in less available support both staff and resources per agreement. The continued increase in the use of sites and trails over 10 per year creates additional maintenance requirements for both the partners and RSTBC.