Hello,
As a British Columbia voter, I’m contacting candidates during this provincial election to ask a question about backcountry access in the communities you may represent:
What will you do to protect reasonable backcountry access in the communities you represent?
Across British Columbia, people rely on resource roads and other backcountry routes to reach places they camp, hunt, fish, hike, snowmobile, four-wheel drive, explore and enjoy.
Rady Creek has helped bring attention to this issue, but this is not only about one road or one region. Communities across the province are affected when access routes are closed, deactivated or changed.
I would like to know how you believe recreational and public-access value should be considered before important backcountry routes are permanently lost.
I would also like to know:
- What process should be followed before a high-value local access route is permanently deactivated or closed?
- How should local residents, recreation groups and other affected users be involved in those decisions?
- Should alternatives such as managed access, stabilization, rerouting, trail designation or other access solutions be evaluated where appropriate?
- If elected, what would you do to make sure local access concerns are heard before irreversible decisions are made?
I understand these decisions can also involve public safety, environmental protection, Indigenous rights and title, maintenance costs, liability and other land-management responsibilities.
I’m not asking for a particular answer. I want to understand where candidates stand before I vote.
Local backcountry access should be part of the election conversation.
If pressing Send does nothing, your browser may not have an email app attached — common on phones with webmail only. Use Copy the text and Copy the addresses, then paste both into Gmail, Outlook or whatever you use.
Everyone is blind-copied. Candidates go in Bcc so no recipient sees anyone else's address, and so your letter reads as one person writing, not a list.
Change the wording if you want to. A letter in your own words carries more weight than a hundred identical ones. The part worth keeping is the question itself.
We are not telling anyone how to answer. We are asking you to find out where they stand.
Who this goes to
| Party | Addresses | How they are addressed |
|---|---|---|
| BC NDP | 50 | Blind-copied |
| BC Conservatives | 34 | Blind-copied |
| BC Greens | 7 | Blind-copied |
| Centre BC | 1 | contact@centrebc.ca |
| OneBC | 1 | info@1bc.ca |
| Backcountry Coalition | 1 | Copied so we can count how many of these went out and follow what comes back. We never publish anyone's letter or address. |
All five questions
Five questions, one for each. Each opens in your own mail app.
- BC provincial election Where do you stand on public access to public lands? The opening question. Asks every candidate where they stand on reasonable public access to public lands.
- BC provincial election What happens to access when forestry leaves? What should happen to a resource road that industry no longer needs but the public still uses.
- BC provincial election What should be tried before access is lost? Which alternatives should be considered before a high-value access route is permanently removed.
- BC provincial election · you are here What will you do for access in the community you represent? How a candidate will make sure recreational access is weighed before local routes are closed.
- BC provincial election What is your long-term plan for backcountry access? The closing question. Asks for a province-wide, long-term plan for public access.