Hello,
As a British Columbia voter, I'm contacting candidates during this provincial election to ask another question about public access:
What should happen when a resource road is no longer needed by industry, but still has significant recreational or public-access value?
Across British Columbia, resource roads can provide access to places people use for camping, hunting, fishing, hiking, snowmobiling, four-wheel driving and other lawful recreation.
Rady Creek has helped bring attention to this issue, but the question is much broader than one road.
When industrial use of a road ends, what process do you believe should be used to determine whether public access should continue?
I would also like to know:
- Do you support evaluating the recreational and public-access value of a road before permanent deactivation?
- Where continued access is appropriate, what options should be considered, such as retaining the road, managed access, rerouting, trail designation or another form of access?
- How should public safety, environmental protection, Indigenous rights and title, maintenance costs, liability and long-term funding be considered when deciding the future of these routes?
- What role should local communities, recreation groups and other affected road users have in these decisions?
I'm not asking for a particular answer. I want to understand where candidates stand before I vote.
The future of public access to resource roads 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 · you are here 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 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.