East Kootenay

A boost for BC Parks

The East Kootenay region benefits from $11 million investment in provincial parks

To help celebrate Parks Day, which was July 19, 2008, the BC government is investing close to $11 million this year on upgrades to BC Parks infrastructure to improve the camping and day-use experience for park visitors announced Bill Bennett, MLA for East Kootenay. The East Kootenays will share in this $11 million and five parks and one recreation area will receive upgrades.

A Pretty Spot: Christina Lake Provincial Park is one of the recreational areas that will benefit from the $11 million investment.—photo by Jeffrey Cooper

“Parks Day is a great time to explore the outdoors and discover more of B.C.’s provincial parks,” said Bennett. “We want visitors to keep coming back to British Columbia’s world-class provincial parks. One of the best ways to ensure repeat visits is to continually improve the BC Parks system by making significant capital investments like the one announced today.”

Some of these parks/recreation areas in the East Kootenays include Kikomun Creek Park, Mount Fernie Park, Kettle River Recreation Area, Christina Lake Park, Gladstone Park and Myra-Bellevue Park.

To make the province’s parks system better than ever before, the B.C. government has made a capital investment of more than $83 million over the past four years (2004-08) to improve park facilities and acquire new lands.

Since 2001, the provincial government has established 57 new parks, 129 conservancies, one ecological reserve and eight protected areas, and expanded more than 50 parks and six ecological reserves, protecting more than 1.8 million hectares. Today, 14.26 per cent (or more than 13.5 million hectares) of British Columbia is protected—more than any other province in Canada.

Competitive tendering processes will determine the final cost of these projects and we are unable to give breakdowns per area until the process is complete.

To learn more about BC Parks, please visit www.bcparks.ca.

BC Parks Capital Projects for 2008-09 in the East Kootenays Region:

  • Kikomun Creek Park - Water and facilities
  • Mount Fernie Park - Facility replacement
  • Kikomun Creek Park - Campground facilities reconstruction
  • Kettle River Recreation Area - Water system reconstruction
  • Christina Lake Park - Water system/irrigation reconstruction
  • Gladstone Park - Boat launch and marine site reconstruction
  • Gladstone Park - Texas Creek Campground toilet replacement
  • Myra-Bellevue Park - Myra Canyon rockfall and trailheads

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