Press Reaction to Ecosystem Conservation Plan
To date the bulk of press reaction to yesterday's release of the Gatineau Park Ecosystem Conservation Plan touches first on anger among the rock climbing community and second on protection of species mostly in the areas rock climbers frequent.
- CBC headline - Eardley Escarpment climbing routes scaled back
- MetroNews.ca - Plan limits options for rock climbers
- Ottawa Citizen - Climbers howl at Gatineau Park plan
- Ottawa Sun - Climbers upset with Gatineau Park plan
- Centretown News - NCC limits rock climbing in Gatineau Park
Le Droit took a slightly different direction with it's headline Fini la motoneige, le deltaplane et l'escalade de glace (roughly "The end of snowmobiling, hang gliding and ice climbing"). In their article these three activities get the headline as being prohibited, while rock climbing, horseback riding and geocaching are reported as having restrictions placed on them.
I note that the document made available online by the NCC yesterday is the summary of the Plan (and is 45 pages long - the Plan itself being 127 pages + appendices, but not available electronically at this time). The summary document makes no mention of ice climbing or geocaching.
CTV took a "which is more important, plants or people" line in it's reporting which can be viewed here (search for "NCC aims to preserve Gatineau Park" or see the transcript provided by JP Murray)
Climbers themselves are reporting on the news
March 21st, 2010 - 19:45
In order for Gatineau Park to survive as a park limits on recreation must be imposed. Park management is people management; the park can not be everything for everybody. Climbing has evolved as a mainstream sport over the past 30 years. Its popularity has become its downfall with large organized or commercial climbing groups scaling the escarpment causing erosion, soil compaction and vegetation loss. This was not the case back in the 1980s when I first started climbing there.
We have overshot both the enviromental and recreational carrying capacity of the park. Visitors now approach the park with a mistaken sense of entitlement. This conservation plan should have been implemented a deacde ago before climbers and other interest groups gained a foothold. Do not get me wrong. John Muir founded the Sierra Club and saved thousands of acres of wilderness based on his climbing experiences. But there are limits- and the NCC has negotiated with climbing clubs and made a compromise. We must place the common good before our own. Compromising the ecological integrity of the Eardly Escarpment to fulfill our own self-development and aspirations is self- defeating.