By the time summer rolls around, many British Columbians who have been forced to stay indoors by COVID-19 management measures will be champing at the bit to get outside to go camping, fishing, mountain biking, backpacking, kayaking and mountain climbing.
After all, the outdoors is one of the reasons so many British Columbians choose to live here.
But will B.C.’s lakes, forests, hiking and cycling trails, campgrounds and fishing lodges still be off limits for the duration of the summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic?
Will you be able to hike the West Coast Trail, go mountain biking in the South Chilcotins, fish or go camping at either provincial or private campgrounds?
For now, all provincial and national parks and campgrounds are closed, and there are fines for violating the closures.
Both federal and B.C. parks are tentatively aiming to reopen parks and campgrounds by June 1, though that could change in a heartbeat if the trend in B.C. – which appears to be flattening the curve of new infections – suddenly reverses. And there may still be restrictions in other provinces.
Provincial parks and campgrounds were scheduled to reopen April 30, but that date has been pushed back to May 31. Parks Canada has likewise extended a closure on national parks until May 31.
“All existing reservations for camping, accommodation or activities set to take place prior to May 31, 2020, will be cancelled and all fees paid will be refunded automatically,” Parks Canada stated in an email to Business in Vancouver.
Provincial and national park campgrounds are not the only ones closed to camping. Private campgrounds and RV parks are open only for people who live in their RVs.
Joss Penny, executive director of the BC Lodging and Campgrounds Association, which represents 300 RV and campground operators in B.C., said private campgrounds are not open to tourists and weekend campers – only people who live full-time in their RVs.
In that case, private campgrounds have been deemed an essential service.
“It’s not for tourists,” Penny said. “We’re not having any overnight camping for that. If we have to house essential workers, we’ll house them. At the moment, we’re only having self-contained RVs. Most of them have closed all their washrooms and all their facilities.
“If I was a betting person, I would say that by June 1 we will have some form of limited camping available. That could change. If it goes downhill, we could be looking at July 1, or we could be looking at the whole season going.”
The uncertainty has fishing lodges and outdoor recreation outfitters sitting on tenterhooks.
While sport fishing is still allowed – with restrictions – fishing lodges remain closed. And companies like Tyax Adventures, which offers mountain biking and guided horseback trail rides in the South Chilcotin Mountains, don’t know if they will be able to operate this summer.
“Given that our summer season is scheduled for June 1 to September 30, and that the situation is changing rapidly, at this time, we are unable to confirm in what context Tyax Adventures will be operating in 2020,” the company stated.
Public health officer Bonnie Henry has encouraged British Columbians to get outside to walk, run and cycle, so long as they adhere to physical distancing recommendations. But a number of regional parks have closed their trails.
As of last week, some regional parks, like Pacific Spirit Regional Park, were still open to the public, while Deas Island, Brae Island and Boundary Bay regional parks were closed.
There are some restrictions on sport fishing, but, in general, boat owners are still allowed to go out fishing.
For now, fishing in provincial park lakes is prohibited, as all provincial parks are currently closed. Otherwise, people are still allowed to go saltwater fishing or fishing in lakes that are not in parks, but only immediate family are allowed in boats.
“For fishing and hunting, we were pretty pleased to see Dr. Henry’s guidelines on fishing and hunting,” said Owen Bird, executive director of the Sport Fishing Institute of BC.
“Basically, it said, ‘We appreciate that these are often quite solitary and self-isolating activities, but you just cannot forget to adhere to social distancing guidelines.’ That was a good message, well-received.”
Oregon and Washington have implemented blanket bans on hunting and fishing.
“It still suggests that you don’t travel around the province, and we know we’re not supposed to do that and that’s the way it should be,” Bird said. “But locals can go out and perhaps deal a little bit with food security concerns and get outdoors.
“Nobody’s offering fishing charters because you can’t observe social distancing guidelines. It’s impacting the industry right now extremely significantly.”
The high season for fishing in B.C. is April through September.
“We’re all standing by for a bit of relaxation,” Bird said. “When you see that relaxed, the expectation is that people in B.C. will be keen to get out and enjoy the activities that they love, fishing included, and the charters will be able to ramp up.
“It’s less clear about the lodge operations in remote locations because they require a period of time to ramp up, to get all their employees on station, supplies, flights co-ordinated.
“It’s becoming increasingly challenging for the lodge communities to say, ‘Well, how far into the summer do we go before it’s the costs of starting business are not met by the revenue you can gain in that much shortened season?’”
The BC Outdoor Recreation Council has written B.C. Minister of Environment George Heyman, asking him to rethink the decision to shut down all provincial parks.
“Closing local parks and green spaces shrinks the available space and effectively concentrates activity to smaller and thus more confined spaces, making physical distancing and health benefits even more difficult to achieve,” BC Outdoor Recreation Council executive director Louise Pedersen writes in her letter.
“If the public is kept indoors for an extended period of time with no reasonable access to the outdoors, there’s a risk that the public might start to ignore physical distancing rules or that public mental health will suffer as a result of individuals and families facing significant stress and isolation.”
According to a study by the School of Resources and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University, 50% of British Columbians are involved in some form of outdoor recreation, with hiking, fishing and boating being the top most popular summer activities.
Some of these activities, by their nature, involve some measure of social distancing already.
“Provincial parks seem like excellent places to space out,” Pedersen said. “Being outside with our families or spouses or with our dog, it’s part of the fabric of life. It’s part of why a lot of us live here.”
Shutting down public facilities like the Elfin Lakes alpine hut or Garibaldi Lake’s dining cabins makes sense, because it would concentrate too many people in a confined space. But tenting in a remote back-country campground would presumably allow for sufficient physical distancing.
“Getting outside is hugely beneficial, especially at a time like now,” Pedersen said. “There are so many mental and physical health benefits.
“In the City of Vancouver, 30% of people live in condos. Forty per cent of older houses have basement suites. So it probably means a lot of people don’t have access to their own yard.”
