tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229885.post6419313976588000457..comments2024-03-27T01:58:22.445-07:00Comments on The Gazetteer: This Day In Snookland....Park Today, Gone Tomorrow?RossKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677239332112652522noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229885.post-29370604271217819592014-02-15T20:43:21.454-08:002014-02-15T20:43:21.454-08:00Socreds reacted to tree-huggers in the late 80s (&...Socreds reacted to tree-huggers in the late 80s ("the war in the woods", Clayoquot, Meares, etc.,...) with a radical plan to virtually privatize parks, open them up for investment---so different than the neo-rightist lot we got now; The moribund Socreds (who would soon after be swept away by the NDP who enacted major resource policy changes, including the doubling of parks and protected areas) got too knee-jerk with this hackneyed, retaliatory parks plan, heavy on ideology but likely to immediately cripple an established industry that generated several hundreds of millions of dollars annually. But they were still old-school, with quaint notions of actually tendering out park service concessions; more evolved neo-rightists like the BC Liberals take care to first bankrupt public institutions they intend to privatize, colluding with insiders to assist (as in IPPs parasitizing BC Hydro) and negotiate the inside track to fire sale prices with special friends (see BC Rail). <br /><br />BC Parks used to be world class; now they're in a state of neglect, campsites gone, trails closed, parking meters in the parking lot, gouging camping fees, employees laid off for over a decade and a lost reputation internationally that will take years to reverse. It's almost as if the BC Liberals are intentionally trying to 'bankrupt' the parks system.<br /><br />Same goin' on with whatever they call the super-ministry these days. It's the old razzle dazzle---forest inventory, for example, hasn't been done for a decade, making management more and more difficult---and stumpage more difficult to figure out. <br /><br />There's only one reason in my mind why this government of self-proclaimed free enterprise "businessmen", takes public institutions that used to provide surpluses and turns them into financial basket cases.scotty on denmannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229885.post-4599294259247361842014-02-15T12:18:43.908-08:002014-02-15T12:18:43.908-08:00A good Gord-- a largely unsung hero in need of a s...A good Gord-- a largely unsung hero in need of a song:<br /><br />http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Gordon_McAdams<br /><br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229885.post-92173714571638968632014-02-15T12:03:18.167-08:002014-02-15T12:03:18.167-08:00This:
"We have agreed not to drive our autom...This:<br /><br />"We have agreed not to drive our automobiles into cathedrals, concert halls, art museums, legislative assemblies, private bedrooms and the other sanctums of our culture; we should treat our national parks with the same deference, for they too, are holy places."<br /><br />SH<br /><br />Edward Abbey quoted in: Wilderness Ethics: Preserving the Spirit of Wildness. Laura and Guy WatermanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229885.post-12512258667593434952014-02-15T11:54:23.378-08:002014-02-15T11:54:23.378-08:00From the dusty memory files: in the Golden Age of ...From the dusty memory files: in the Golden Age of Davey, Dad was in support of Dave's trial balloon thing in which he pondered putting low cost housing on the endowment lands.<br /><br />Well, Dad and I had a back and forth, and in the end Dad agreed with my argument: that rich and poor alike enjoy the rare sanctuary of that space, not to mention its wild inhabitants.<br /><br />In retrospect, no one could have predicted that my beloved sleepyish town on the sea would have been Mulroneyized into the frenetic feeding ground for the money changers, not even the prescient, and almost infallible Davey B. <br /><br />Well, now you've got me started RossK. Will the dishes ever wash themselves and other little miracles?...<br />SH<br /><br /> <br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com