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Group seeks letters for World Heritage application

The application to have Wells Gray Provincial Park added to Parks Canada's tentative list for World Heritage status has been submitted
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Editor, The Times:

I am very pleased to report that the application to have Wells Gray Provincial Park added to Parks Canada's tentative list for World Heritage status has been submitted.

It was a bit more work than Trevor Goward and I anticipated, mostly due to the very tight word restrictions relative to the level of detail required. We hope we have done a credible job on behalf of al-l of you.

We’d like to thank all who provided input; it was very much appreciated. But the hard work hasn’t ended. We now need all those letters of support! My target is to have them by Feb. 28 so I will be working with all of you to get them in.

Letters should be addressed to:

Mr. George Green, Vice-President, Indigenous Affairs and Cultural Heritage Directorate Parks Canada, 30 Victoria Street, 3rd fl, Room 323 PC-03-J Gatineau (Québec) J8X 0B3

If you would like to send a message directly, please just make sure you refer to this application and you send me a copy so I can keep track of who has sent them.

And on that note, as this is as much a political process as an administrative one, I will be coming to Kamloops and Clearwater sometime soon. I am just trying to figure out my travel schedule and hope I will have the opportunity to meet with anyone who would like more information on the process in order to express support.

A note on the process – it is a slow one. You can check out the details on the web page www.pc.gc.ca/eng/progs/spm-whs/sec06.aspx The bottom line is it is likely to be November before we hear back on the success or failure of this endeavour.  If successful, there will be a long period of consultation (possibly years) with all interested parties. This is just the first baby step.

In the meantime, those of you that are working on the North Thompson Corridor Geopark (including Wells Gray) – we forge ahead, and my apologies for a long bout of silence.

The dossier will be uploaded onto the Wells Gray World Heritage site sometime in the next few days. www.wellsgrayworldheritage.ca

Cathie Hickson

Wells Gray Wilderness Society