News in Pique the week of Aug. 30 regarding the closing of Pemberton’s sani-dump (and Tourism Visitor Centre) is worrying.
Plenty of Pemberton/Whistler residents own trailers, RVs and campers, presumably needing to empty grey and brown waste after being away. Destination visitors through the area also need this service, plus there are many semi-resident camps squatting on local Forest Service Roads (FSR). As the article threatens, without a convenient facility available, some people may simply dump their grey and human waste alongside local FSRs or creeks. Recently, someone on a local Facebook forum reported an RV that left a storage tub of human crap as a parting gift.
The availability and management of these facilities throughout the province should be partially funded from the provincial government’s budget for Environment (Parks, Rec Sites & Trails, Enforcement, Fish & Wildlife etc.). But therein lies the problem—the B.C. government reportedly devotes a meagre one per cent of its budget to take care of all the outdoor things we cherish, defunded from more than five per cent over the last 50 years (according to the BC Wildlife Federation).
More people are moving to B.C. and we promote to ever more visitors, increasing pressure on fish and game, parks, trails and wild spaces.
B.C. needs an increased funding model dedicated to servicing, protecting and enhancing our environment. One that reflects a reasonable portion of the taxes and revenues brought in from those who profit by using the environment: tourism, recreation gear sales, logging, oil and gas, mining etc.
Not a new tax, but rather a rebalance of investment back into the environment against the revenue we take from it.
There is an election coming; perfect time to press for a return of adequate funding for B.C.’s environment ministries.
