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Campaign to Restore Silver Star Provincial Park
Silver Star Provincial Park was established in 1940 as a Class A park, and was originally 8935 hectares (22,080 acres). The park was intended to preserve and protect the headwaters of several community watersheds, and provide sustainable recreational opportunities for all British Columbians.
Over the years the park has had large sections deleted, at the request of the privately owned ski resort which operated within the park. The resort has been successful in having about 40% of the park deleted, splitting the park in two pieces and cutting off public access to the 580 hectare East Site! Less than 5000 hectares remain in the West Site.
The original justification for these deletions was to encourage private investment in recreational infrastructure that would benefit all British Columbians. Some of the goals of this strategy have been achieved, but they have come at a great price.
This is the map of Silver Star Provincial Park that B.C. Parks was too embarassed to put on the Silver Star Provincial Park website. The park has been split into two pieces, with public access to the East Site cut off.
The disturbing thing about the 2740 hectare deletion made in December, 1992 and the 510 hectare deletion made in April 2001, is that these lands will not be used for their original stated purpose! The lands deleted in 1992 for the World Cup cross country trails are slated for development into condos and hotels, some of the best alpine ski runs have been turned into subdivisions, and the golf course lands deleted from the southeast corner of the park in 2001 are now slated for sewage effluent disposal!
These lands were deleted from the park with very little public consultation, and B.C. Parks created the impression that deletion was necessary to allow commercial development of the ski lifts and cross country ski trails. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth, and these lands could have been kept in the park, and developed under a Park Use Permit, much the same as is done in other Provincial Parks, including Cypress, Mount Seymour, and Manning Parks.
It is possible that more land may be deleted from the park in the future, and eventually, the park could completely disappear...........if we let it. We owe it to future generations to make sure that the park is still there for them to enjoy! It would be shame to allow a few individuals to reap short-term profits from development of these park lands at the expense of all future generations. If we allow continued real estate development in this fragile sub-alpine ecosystem, we will not only lose the park, but will contaminate the headwaters of our community watersheds for generations to come!
To combat the potential demise of the park, the Citizens' Coalition to Save Silver Star Provincial Park has initiated a campaign to instead restore the park to its original size.
You can play a key role in preserving the park for future generations by signing the Petition to Restore Silver Star Provincial Park.
Never doubt that a small group of citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. Margaret Meade
