Ryan Stuart, explore's gear editor

Horse sh#%

• Posted on May 30, 2008 at 3:30 PM
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On Wednesday night I went out to a public meeting about amending the master plan for Strathcona Provincial Park to allow horse travel. The question asked was under what conditions should horses be allowed in the park.

Personally, I think there are a lot more important issues we should be talking about with regards to Strathcona. Inside the boundaries are a hydro dam, a mine and logging incursions. Park use is falling and so are park budgets and staffing (see the March 2008 issue of explore for more on this). None the less an emotional and energetic full house was on hand to talk about horse use. A big reason for that is because a wilderness resort, Clayoquot Wilderness Resort, has an application in to BC Parks to run commercial horse tours up an old logging road into Strathcona from the west coast. In exchange the resort says it will build a new trail – the old one is washed out in several areas and a couple of bridges are condemned – and maintain it.

A lot of people at the meeting saw the horse question as an under handed way for BC Parks to garner permission for the resort's horse proposal. A majority of people present spoke out against horse travel in the park, saying horses damage trails, bring in invasive and non-native plant species, are incompatible with wildlife and hikers and generally don't belong in sensitive wilderness areas. A few people pointed out that horses don't do damage on hard surface trails – like old logging road – and are a great way to get people into the backcountry who couldn't physical get their on their own.

A decision won't be made until late this summer. What do you think about horse traffic on hiking trails? Can the two coexist?