BC Parks is an agency of the British Columbia Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy that manages all of the, as of 2020, 1,035 provincial parks and other conservation and historical properties of various title designations within the province's Parks oversaw of the British Columbia Parks and Protected Areas System. The Lieutenant Governor-in-Council created the agency on March 1, 1911, through the Strathcona Park Act. The agency is charged with a dual role of preserving the ecological and historical integrity of the places entrusted to its management, while also making them available and accessible for public use and enjoyment.
History
In July 1910, a party of the British Columbia Provincial Government Expedition led by the Chief Commissioner of Lands Price Ellison explored the region surrounding Crown Mountain on Vancouver Island for the purposes of setting aside land to establish British Columbia's first provincial park. Ellison then reported his findings to the Executive Council of British Columbia.
On March 1, 1911, the executive council passed the Strathcona Park Act, which protected approximately of mountainous terrain from being sold, settled or otherwise occupied. While the Park Act was intended to protect the land from being exploited, it exempted both mining claims and timber holdings had been granted prior to the establishment of the park from being voided. This statute was further clarified through an amendment made in 1918 that explicitly permitted the "location, acquisition and occupation of mineral claims under the Mineral Act."
The popularity of Glacier and Yoho National Park, both established by the federal government as national parks in 1886, and of municipal parks like Beacon Hill Park (established 1882) and Stanley Park (established 1888), led the government of Richard McBride to adopt the Provincial Parks Act of 1908. The act enabled the provincial government, through the Department of Lands to reserve public lands for the establishment of future parks.
After the federal government's interest in establishing national park on Vancouver Island became known, the government of McBride amended the Provincial Parks Act to allow the creation of provincial parks by an Order in Council, rather than an act of parliament. And on March 1, 1911, the government of McBride adopted the Strathcona Park Act, which established a park reserve in the centre of the island named Strathcona Provincial Park. This success encouraged the McBride government to establish a second park reserve, Mount Robson Provincial Park, in 1913.
Following the creation of two more national parks, Mount Revelstoke in 1914 and Kootenay in 1920, the government of John Oliver established John Dean Park from a private land donation in 1921. This was followed by the establishment of two mountaintop parks, Kokanee Glacier and Mount Assiniboine, with the support of the Alpine Club of Canada in 1922.
These early parks were established for recreational purposes, with the larger ones were intended to be developed as major tourist destinations. Their creation did not terminate any existing forestry or mining rights.
In 1924, the provincial government amended the Provincial Parks Act to allow for the reduction in area of established parks, and also to acquire land for parks through land or timber exchanges. Another amendment in 1927 allowed for the rising of water levels within parks.
In addition to several small, local use parks established throughout the 1930s and 1940s, the government of Duff Pattullo created four large parks. Both the Tweedsmuir and Hamber Provincial Parks were over one million hectares when created in 1938 and 1941, respectively, the Wells Gray Provincial Park was established in 1939 at over 470,000 hectares, and the E. C. Manning Provincial Park was created from a wildlife reserve in 1941. The Liard River Provincial Park was a short-lived 730,000 hectare protected area, established in 1944 and cancelled in 1949, though its central feature was included in the 1957, 1,082 hectare Liard River Hot Springs Provincial Park.