Proposed Amendments to Add 29 Hectares of New Land to Bridge Lake Provincial Park

A provincial park located 50 kilometers east of 100 Mile house could be expanding with the addition of new land.

The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy says proposed amendments to the Protected Areas of British Columbia Act will add approximately 107 hectares of new land to six existing Class A parks including Bridge Lake Provincial Park.

Through private land acquisitions, the addition of a 29-hectare island known as Heritage Island would bring the total area of Bridge Lake Provincial Park to 434 hectares.

Other proposed additions include:

• 2.5 hectares to Harmony Islands Marine Provincial Park along the Sunshine Coast
• 17 hectares to Kikomun Creek Provincial Park in the Kootenays
• 19 hectares to Myra-Bellevue Provincial Park in the Okanagan
• Four hectares to Purcell Wilderness Conservancy Provincial Park in the Kootenays
• 35 hectares to Syringa Provincial Park near Castlegar

To reflect ancestral connections and support reconciliation efforts, John Dean Provincial Park on southern Vancouver Island would also be renamed to ȽÁU,WELṈEW̱/John Dean Park (pronounced Tlay-will-nook), which means “place of refuge” in the language of the W̱SÁNEĆ people.

The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy told MyCaribooNow that the proposed amendments would not take effect until Bill 16-2019 is passed in the legislature.