No National Park

It seems very apt that the feature story of this month's Explore magazine (to which I have a subscription) "The Best of Our 42 National Parks: A Complete Adventure Guide", given that I have wanted to discuss the issue of national parks for a few weeks now.

One of the first billboards of note you see when you enter the Similkameen Valley is a home-made 'No National Park' sign. Back in February when I came to visit, I thought that these signs were only lcoated on the reserve land around these parts and that the 'No National Park' strugggle was primarily one being had between the First Nations and the federal government for control of local land, but as it turns out, the battle is between completely different parties.

Briefly, because Cawston is located in a unique geo-climatic environment, and the national government has mandated that we have a national park to represent each of our various climates, there has been a long time battle between opposing parties to try and make the area surrounding my current place of residence a national park. It turns out that some of the primary opponents to this land conversion are the cattle ranchers who currently use the land to graze their cows.

For a complete overview of the issue, please read the following article:

"Conservationists Present Urgent Call for Establishment of National Park"

So all of this talk about making a new national park got me thinking about what side I would be on: to establish a new park or to fight against its establishment. I can see valid arguments for both sides. If I were to live elsewhere, I would say definitely make part of this environment a national park. We should have representation of all our climates saved for future generations, plus it will give me additional places to explore this beautiful country.

However, living here, you realize some of the new burdens converting the land into a national park would impose such as new regulations for fishing, hiking, or foraging on land that was previously unregulated and so available to all to use as they pleased.