Re: [Paddlewise] BC MARINE TRAILS NETWORK - Assistance Required

(moderator repost - my apologies if this is a duplicate)

Nick, thank you for your thoughtful comments. They are bang on. I've left your
e-mail attached to this message in it's entirety because it's well worth
another read.

It's important to consider that we live on a planet that has doubled in
population over the past 50 years to more than 6 billion people, and that the
population of British Columbia, in that same time period, has more than
tripled! I suspect that the number of people visiting by way of tourism to
British Columbia during that timeframe has also increased by at least
threefold or more. There are a lot of people seeking space not only to live on
this planet, but also in their quests to recreate. It would be a rare instance
in this day and age for one to visit a coastal region anywhere on the planet
aside from the polar extremes for several days without coming across another
person, be they in a sailboat, powerboat, or kayak. The days of true coastal
wilderness, are sadly behind us.

In British Columbia, access to suitable places for kayakers to camp and visit
along the coast are disappearing at an alarming rate (by way of land
acquisitions by private and commercial interests). If we allow another ten
years to pass there will be far fewer places to access than we are currently
able. Given this trend, if something is not done now, in a few short years it
will be next to impossible for a kayaker to safely (and legally) paddle the
entire coastline of BC. Like it or not, the BC Marine Trails Network is
absolutely necessary if we wish to continue having access for paddling the
coastlines of BC.

I'd like to take this opportunity to address the comments that Gordin Warner
made in a previous post...

Gordin, there are no secrets here -- if you would like a list of all the
people directly involved in the BCMTNA, send me an e-mail and I'll gladly
forward a complete list of names to you.

The vast majority of those involved in the BCMTNA are representatives of
paddling clubs in BC. There are three exceptions which include the magazine
owner that you refer to, myself, and Mick Allen (another principal of
westcoastpaddler.com). Both myself and Mick are also representatives from the
Pacific International Kayak Association and the Sea Kayak Association of BC,
respectively.

The magazine owner that you mention is contributing far more to the benefit of
the project than he will ever receive from it. His intimate knowledge of the
BC coast has been a great asset to the project and you should know that he has
purposefully distanced himself from certain aspects of the project because he
is concerned about potential perceptions of conflicts of interest -- something
that most of the others involved don't feel is necessary. Aside from this one
person, there are currently no other companies involved in the project.

You ask who will get contracts for trail guides once the sites are confirmed
-- we haven't got that far yet, but I can tell you that the majority of access
to the trail and campsite information available in the future, will be
available on the BCMNTA website. The information, once compiled will also be
made publicly available by the Province of British Columbia.

With regard to development and operational costs, we have received a contract
from the Province of British Columbia to to assist them in the construction of
a database inventory of all campsites along the coast. Many of these locations
will be put forward by the Provincial Government to be protected and
safe-guarded from future development, others will be secured through
negotiations with private land owners. The funds received for this contract
have brought the project to it's current stage. Other aspects such as the
construction of the BCMNTA website have been fully donated. To date, all
travel expenses to meetings, etc, have been paid out of pocket by individual
volunteers. Additional money to fund the project is coming in a one-time sum
in the form of a grant from the Province from the BC 150 program (which is
celebrating 150 years of British Columbia). All other operating capital for
the project will be come from other sources such as private and commercial
donations, not from tax dollars. I cannot say that we won't apply for other
government subsidies and grants should they be available to us in the future.
For more information about the BC 150 project, see their website:

http://www.bc150.gov.bc.ca/

British Columbia has 22,000 kilometres (14,000 miles) of coastline making this
a monumental task to complete. The group of volunteers who are working on this
project have contributed countless hours to the undertaking and are all there
because they acknowledge our diminishing access to coastal waters and do not
wish to sit idly while that access becomes prohibitively restricted.

We urge all interested parties to contribute by way of sharing information
about campsites. You can submit information and photos at:

http://www.westcoastpaddler.com/community/viewforum.php?f=13

Nick, once again, thank you for your insight.

Respectfully,

Dan Millsip

Director, BC Marine Trails Network Association
http://www.bcmarinetrails.org
-----

  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Nick Schade
  To: Matt Broze ; Paddlewise net
  Sent: Monday, March 09, 2009 9:57 AM
  Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] BC MARINE TRAILS NETWORK - Assistance Required


  One needs to be careful about how one talks about this as it is easy
  to come across sounding like: "I know and love these places and I want
  to keep them nice for myself even though they don't belong to me, so I
  don't want anyone else to know about them." This is of course a
  completely bogus stand, because anyone who goes to any of these places
  is vastly increasing the number that use it beyond zero, which is the
  least damaging number. If you are now going to a camp site you are now
  part of the problem.

  Watertrails are a solution to an existing problem, not the source of a
  new one. People are going to these places now. And even now new people
  are learning about them. And every additional person that learns about
  it is adding to the problem. Whenever someone goes to one of these
  places to find it already occupied, they will move on and make a new
  place. Before you know it, the whole water front is abused and over
  used.

  People are going to come, regardless of how much guidance they
  receive. They are going because people have sea kayaks and other boats
  and they want to do trips. This is the source of the pressure. Maybe
  the problem is kayak builders?

  The water trail idea started in Maine with the Maine Island Trail
  Association http://www.mita.org/about/history. It has served to
  mitigate abuse. The association gets permission from landowners and
  promotes careful use of campsites. By working with landowners in a
  responsible way it has opened up more islands to use. There are still
  unsanctioned landing spots that get used, but now there are more
  places where the owner is happy to have visitors. MITA also works with
  public lands to help protect landing sites and keeping people away
  from unsuitable locations. The Maine coast is very close to major
  population centers and I have been paddling the coast of Maine for
  over 20 years (since before MITA came into existence), and while there
  are more kayaks on the water now, the only islands that are being
  overrun are those that were being overrun 20 years ago. But, at these
  places the impact is not as bad as it used to be. MITA also works with
  outfitters and guides to control how much use specific sites get.

    It is possible a BC trail network will not work in the same way MITA
  has, but in reality, most people are lazy and don't get out to the
  really nice spots even if they know they are there. The people who are
  of a mind to go to the remote places are doing it already. A good
  guide book can serve to spread these users out over a wider area. A
  well run watertrail system can reduce the impact.
  Nick
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