U.S. outdoor group’s application to use B.C. land sparks debate amid 51st state talk

People who live on Vancouver Island and some smaller neighbouring islands have been hotly debating an application made by an American non-profit to use B.C. Crown land for campsites while on kayak trips.

National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), which runs outdoor expeditions around the world, is applying to renew — and expand — a licence the province says it has held since 2006.

The application is to permit NOLS to camp at 77 locations while leading an eight- to 10-person kayak trip from Washington to Alaska next summer. Most of the locations, which range from 0.3-4.6 hectares, are on and around Vancouver Island.

Posts about the application have cropped up in Vancouver Island-based groups on social media, including Facebook and Reddit, eliciting hundreds of comments — many from people concerned about an American company getting access to Canadian land.

Karen McCarthy, who lives in Esquimalt, near Victoria, B.C., told CBC News she became concerned when she saw a community Facebook post about the application.

“It just did raise some red flags for me when I saw it,” said McCarthy. 

She said the number of locations worried her, as did concerns she read from others that there was not enough consultation with communities and First Nations that are based near the sites.

McCarthy said, regardless of whether the applicant has been operating in the province for the past few decades, Canada-U.S. relations have changed, and maybe that means licensing considerations should be different too.

“The 51st state comments and the threats to our economic sovereignty and our sovereignty — it just doesn’t feel like a time to be allowing American companies to run through our wilderness,” she said.

Some commenting online expressed concerns about specific sites on the list. Others mention that NOLS is a reputable organization that has long worked in B.C., and is known for responsible wilderness practices like “leave no trace.”

Many of the online posts and comments also reflect confusion about the nature of the licence — that it may be used for military purposes, for example, or that NOLS will be building facilities on each of the 77 sites.

While NOLS’s website does show that it offers courses for military members, a spokesperson said the trip it’s planning next summer would be for alumni of the school, and “not military or military training.”

Rich Majerus, vice president of expeditions at NOLS, said in an emailed statement that the company has led trips along the B.C. coast since the mid-1990s.

“The waters around Vancouver Island have been an area NOLS has loved and appreciated for decades,” said Majerus.

He said the 77 campsites in the application won’t all be used — but the company applies for licences for all of them in case they need to make unplanned stops due to weather or other emergencies.

The application also states that no structures will be built.

The B.C. Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, said the licences give applicants the right to use Crown land for commercial purposes, but do not give the applicants exclusive access to the lands — meaning the public can still use it.

Licences are typically for 10 years and costs $850 per year plus $1 per day when the client uses the land.

“Outdoor and adventure tourism play a large role in B.C.’s economy,” said the ministry in a written statement. 

“The Government of B.C. encourages people and companies from around the world to spend and invest in sustainable eco-tourism that utilizes the splendor of our province in ways that are good for both our economy and the environment.”

Mike Willie, a hereditary chief of the Kwikwasut’inuxw Nation, agrees that outdoor tourism is important, but thinks priority should be given to locals.

“I feel like we should be keeping our sites for our local people — non-native and First Nations — before we start looking at outside interests,” said Willie, who owns an outdoor tour company on north Vancouver Island.

He’s also concerned he didn’t hear about the application until he saw people talking about it online, given that some of the sites are in his nation’s traditional territory.

The ministry said it is in the early stages of engagement with First Nations.

The application is open for public comment until Oct. 5. After that, the ministry said it will “continue to review the application as resourcing permits.”

That includes looking at wildfire, pollution and other risks.