annual report - federation of mountain clubs of bc...travel 1,370 2,000 (630) 692 travel expense...

2013

Jodi Appleton

Federation of Mountain Clubs of BC

6/8/2013

Annual Report

Photo by Carol Hunter

FEDERATION OF MOUNTAIN CLUBS OF BC 2013 ANNUAL REPORT

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Contents President’s Report......................................................................................................................................... 3

Treasurer’s Report ........................................................................................................................................ 4

Draft 2014 Budget and Notes ................................................................................................................... 4

2013 Statement of Operations ................................................................................................................. 6

Statement of Financial Position ................................................................................................................ 9

Account Balances .................................................................................................................................... 10

Membership Numbers ............................................................................................................................ 11

Program and Administration Manager Report ........................................................................................... 12

SW BC Recreation and Conservation Committee Report ........................................................................... 14

SW BC Trails Committee Report ................................................................................................................. 19

Advocacy Committee Report ...................................................................................................................... 21

Insurance Committee Report ...................................................................................................................... 23

Outreach Committee Report ...................................................................................................................... 23

Member Club Project Grant ........................................................................................................................ 24


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President’s Report Scott Webster (UBC Varsity Outdoor Club)

It's been another busy year at the FMCBC. First off, I'd like to welcome our five new member clubs: the Bulkley Backcountry Ski Society, the South Okanagan Trail Alliance, the Varsity Outdoor Club Okanagan, the Quadra Island Outdoor Club, and the Victoria Outdoor Club Meetup. We're quite pleased to continue to grow and especially happy to gain new clubs from around the province. At the same time, we lost two clubs this past year (ACC-Prince George Section and the Vancouver Rock Climbing Group), so we need to continue to work to ensure we're meeting everyone's needs as much as possible. I'd invite our new clubs to jump in and get involved, and also to provide feedback on their experience. Our research project with SFU is nearing completion. Some results will be presented at this AGM, with finalized reports to follow in the next month or so. We've gathered a large body of research supporting the health benefits of recreation, and also collected defensible evidence of widespread involvement in non-motorized activities across BC. Over 45% of the BC population participated in non-motorized outdoor recreation in 2012. The next phase of this work will be for us to distribute our findings and also to use the results as supporting evidence in our continued advocacy work. As described in our strategic plan, we will be creating a non-motorized recreation position paper that puts forward our rationale for supporting these activities. On the subject of the strategic plan, we are on track in some areas, and maybe a little behind in others. Certainly there is room for more volunteers to work on some of the objectives! Our province-wide Advocacy Committee has been successful and we have published a policy document on Huts, Cabins and Lodges in BC Provincial Parks that has been well received. Our transition to the $10 member dues has begun with this 2013/2014 fiscal year. Our financial outlook is good and we have prepared a draft budget for the next three years in order to help guide our planning (we will only officially approve the budget for this fiscal year, as per usual). The upcoming year will be my third and final year as FMCBC President (unless there is unexpected competition in the election). It has certainly been a good experience, but it will soon be time to pass the reins on to someone else. I encourage everyone to consider running for an FMCBC executive position at some point as part of their involvement with our organization.


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Treasurer’s Report Draft 2014 Budget and Notes

Elisa Kreller (ACC-Vancouver)

FEDERATION OF MOUNTAIN CLUBS OF BC ANNUAL BUDGET (page 1)

FOR THE THREE YEAR ENDING MARCH 31

Actual 2013

Budget 2014

Budget 2015

Budget 2016

Comments

Operating Fund

REVENUE

Memberships - Clubs 62,859 43,868 44,030 44,030 Members at Mar 31, 2013 excl ACC PG 4,139, additional members in 4 new clubs 264

Memberships - Individuals 25 100 100 100 Insurance Dues - Clubs 21,738 25,500 25,500 25,500 Donations - General 6,650 500 500 500 Donations - Travel Expense 353 1,000 1,000 1,000 Advertising 200 200 200 200 Recovery - Trail Markers 1,800 700 - - Interest 576 829 864 873

Subtotal 94,201 72,697 72,194 72,203

Membership - Dues Refund (120) (120) (120) (120) Membership - Club Rebate (13,810) -

TOTAL REVENUE 80,271 72,577 72,074 72,083

EXPENSES

Salaries & Benefits

Salary and Wages 21,493 28,142 28,846 29,567 Hourly rate increasing by 2.5% annually,

based on a 24 hour work week Statutory Benefits 1,508 1,989 2,043 2,098 Statutory payroll benefits 7.7%

Total Salaries & Benefits 23,001 30,131 30,889 31,665

General & Admin

Supplies, Courier, Internet, Computer

962 1,200 1,200 1,200

Trail Markers 2,479 700 - - Meetings 868 750 750 750 Travel 1,370 2,000 2,000 2,000 Telephone 517 500 500 500 Memberships & Dues 561 400 400 400 Promotion & Brochures - 500 500 500 Insurance - Directors' Liability 500 500 500 500 Insurance - Clubs 21,440 25,500 25,500 25,500 Newsletter 5,427 6,100 5,500 5,500

Additional cost in 2014 for software

Total General & Admin 34,124 38,150 36,850 36,850


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FEDERATION OF MOUNTAIN CLUBS OF BC ANNUAL BUDGET (page 2)

FOR THE THREE YEAR ENDING MARCH 31

Actual 2013

Budget 2014

Budget 2015

Budget 2016

Comments

Operating Fund

SFU Research Study - 7,579

Other?

Total Non-recurring Projects - 7,579 - -

TOTAL EXPENSES 57,125 75,860 67,739 68,515

Subtotal 23,146 (3,283) 4,335 3,568

Transfer to project fund (8,503) (3,000) (3,000) (3,000) Includes all donations plus $1,500 contribution from FMCBC

SURPLUS (DEFICIENCY) 14,643 (6,283) 1,335 568

Transfer to contingency fund - - FUND BALANCE, Beginning of year 30,948 45,591 39,308 40,643

FUND BALANCE, End of year 45,591 39,308 40,643 41,211

MEC Strategic Planning Grant

REVENUE

Grant 13,000 4,421

EXPENSES

Strategic Plan Implementation 13,000 4,421

SURPLUS (DEFICIENCY) - -

Project Fund

EXPENSES

Club Projects

4,200 6,000 4,000 4,000

SURPLUS (DEFICIENCY) (4,200) (6,000) (4,000) (4,000)

Transfer from operating fund

8,503 3,000 3,000 3,000

FUND BALANCE, Beginning of year 2,555 6,858 3,858 2,858



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2013 Statement of Operations

FEDERATION OF MOUNTAIN CLUBS OF BC STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS (page 1) FOR THE YEAR ENDING MARCH 31, 2013

Actual 2013

Approved Budget

Increase (Decrease)

Actual 2012

Comments

Operating Fund

REVENUE

Memberships - Clubs 62,859 49,000 13,859 52,587 Estimate for current year fees ($55,300), prior year fees ($7,500)

Memberships - Individuals 25 70 (45) 70

Insurance Dues - Clubs 21,738 17,000 4,738 16,653

Project Administration Fees - - - 1,724

Donations - General 6,650 300 6,350 1,055 Donations from individuals ($1,450), VITIS ($2,350), and club rebates ($2,850)

Donations - Travel Expense 353 1,000 (647) 159

Advertising 200 - 200 -

Recovery - Trail Markers 1,800 3,000 (1,200) - Trail markers in inventory at year end

Interest 577 300 277 76

Subtotal 94,201 70,670 23,531 72,324

Membership - Individual Dues Refund (120) (360) 240 (360)

Membership - Club Rebate (13,810) (14,000) 190 (13,670) Rebate for clubs $5 per member

TOTAL REVENUE 80,271 56,310 23,961 58,294

EXPENSES

Salaries & Benefits

Salary and Wages 21,493 30,400 (8,907) 21,341 Average per week 20 hours,

less than budget at 24 hours

Bookkeeper - 900 (900) 900 No longer using bookkeeper

Statutory Benefits 1,508

600 908

499 Actual payroll taxes about

7.0%

Total Salaries & Benefits 23,001 31,900 (8,900) 22,740


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General & Admin

Supplies, Courier, Internet, Computer 962 1,000 (38) 936

Trail Markers 2,479 3,000 (521) - Includes cost of donated trail markers

Meetings 868 500 368 508

Travel 1,370 2,000 (630) 692 Travel expense claims for 2012 AGM

Telephone 517 500 17 499

Memberships & Dues 561 400 161 366

Promotion & Brochures - 500 (500) 242

Insurance - Directors' Liability 500 500 - 500

Insurance - Clubs 21,440 17,000 4,440 17,635 Cost offset by recovery $21,700

Newsletter 5,427 5,000 427 6,543

Total General & Admin 34,125 30,400 3,725 27,920

Projects

Strategic Plan Implementation - 7,500 (7,500) -

Final phase of SFU research project delayed to 2014

TOTAL EXPENSES 57,126 69,800 (12,674) 50,661

SURPLUS (DEFICIENCY) 23,145 (13,490) 36,635 7,633

Transfer to project fund (8,503) (2,800) (5,703) (2,555) Includes all donations plus $1,500 contribution from FMC

Transfer to contingency fund - - - (50,000)

FUND BALANCE, Beginning of year 30,948 30,948 -

75,870


MEC Strategic Planning Grant

REVENUE

Grant 13,000 17,421 (4,421)

12,579

Final phase of SFU research project delayed to 2014

Project Administration Fees - - - (1,724)

TOTAL REVENUE 13,000 17,421 (4,421) 10,855

EXPENSES

Strategic Plan Development - - - 10,855

Strategic Plan Implementation 13,000 17,421 (4,421)

TOTAL EXPENSES 13,000 17,421 (4,421) 10,855

SURPLUS (DEFICIENCY) (0) (0) 0 -


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Project Fund EXPENSES

Club Projects 4,200 5,355

(1,155)

Contributions to 2 projects

SURPLUS (DEFICIENCY)

(4,200) (5,355) 1,155

-

Transfer to project fund 8,503 2,800

5,703

Includes all donations plus $1,500 contribution from FMCBC

FUND BALANCE, Beginning of year 2,555 2,555 -

-

FUND BALANCE, End of year 6,858 - 6,858


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Statement of Financial Position

FEDERATION OF MOUNTAIN CLUBS OF BC STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION AT MARCH 31, 2013

2013

2012

ASSETS

Current assets

Cash 103,655 82,643

Accounts receivable - club fees 3,716 650

HST receivable 1,749 477

Trail markers 675 -

109,795 83,770

Capital asset

Smoke Bluffs property 69,184 69,184

178,979 152,954

LIABILITIES

Current liabilities

Accounts payable 2,925 267

Deferred revenue 4,421 -

7,346 267

FUND BALANCES

General unrestricted 45,591 30,948

Internally restricted - club project fund 6,858 2,555

Internally restricted - contingency 50,000 50,000

Capital asset 69,184 69,184

171,633 152,687

178,979 152,954


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Account Balances

FEDERATION OF MOUNTAIN CLUBS OF BC

ACCOUNT BALANCES AT MARCH 31, 2013

Name Total Comments

Accounts Receivable

Mount Remo Backcountry Society

45 Paid in full after the year end

UBC Varsity Outdoor Club

2,520 Paid in full after the year end

Valley Outdoor Association

1,121 Paid in full after the year end

Vancouver Rock Climbing Group

30 Paid in full after the year end

Total

3,716

Accounts payable

Fraser Headwaters Alliance

34 FHA overpaid based on their final membership

Varsity Outdoor Club Okanagan

2,780 Overpayment after proration of fees

Worksafe BC

70

Total

2,884


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Membership Numbers

CLUB DUES 2012/2013

Membership Numbers

2011/2012

Increase (Decrease)

Membership Numbers

2012/2013

Revenue 2012/2013

Alberni Valley Outdoor Club 18 11 29

435.00

ACC - Prince George 40 (1) 39

585.00

ACC - Vancouver Island 267 - 267

4,005.00

ACC - Vancouver 486 68 554

8,310.00

Backroads Outdoor Club 9 2 11

165.00

BC Mountaineering Club 455 88 543

8,145.00

Caledonia Ramblers 110 (2) 108

1,620.00

Chilliwack Outdoor Club 159 6 165

2,475.00

Comox District Mountaineering Club 146 (3) 143

2,145.00

Fraser Headwaters Alliance 27 (9) 18

270.00

Friends of Garibaldi Park 4 4

60.00

Friends of Strathcona Park 7 7

105.00

Hike BC 6 6

90.00

Island Mountain Ramblers 35 17 52

780.00

Kamloops Hiking Club 46 46

690.00

Kootenay Mountaineering Club 214 20 234

3,510.00

Mt. Remo Backcountry Society 20 (2) 18

270.00

North Shore Hikers 469 (53) 416

6,240.00

North Vancouver Outdoors Club 40 40

600.00

Outsetters Club of Vancouver 54 - 54

810.00

Valley Outdoor Association 255 11 266

3,990.00

Vancouver Island Trails Information Society 8 (1) 7

105.00

Vancouver Island Spine Trail Association 14 1 15

225.00

Vancouver Rock Climbing Group 8 - 8

120.00

SFU Outdoors Club 68 10 78

780.00

Varsity Outdoor Club Okanagan - 339 339

1,695.00

Varsity Outdoor Club - UBC-Van 612 99 711

7,110.00

Total 3,577 601 4,178

55,335.00


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Program and Administration Manager Report Jodi Appleton

The FMCBC has had a very successful year. We implemented our FMCBC Member Club Project Grant last year, we have been working with SFU on our outdoor recreation research project and we welcomed five new clubs this year. We still have lots in the works including the launching of our new website, developing some tools to help us reach out to our members and the public more effectively, and taking the research results from SFU and incorporating those into an Advocacy Toolkit for us and our member clubs to be able to use. New Clubs We have had five new clubs join the FMCBC this past year. We are very happy to welcome the Varsity Outdoor Club Okanagan, South Okanagan Trail Alliance, Bulkley Backcountry Ski Society, Quadra Island Outdoor Club and Victoria Outdoor Club Meetup. We also thank the ACC Prince George Section for being a member and supporter of the FMCBC over the past several years as they do not plan to renew their membership with us this year. We have found that the main draw for these new clubs has been our insurance program. Having our dues drop from $15 to $10 per member may also be part of the reason we’ve been able to attract additional member clubs. We are looking at having 29 clubs and approximately 4300 members for 2013-2014 which is a significant increase from last year. Website One of my main areas of focus for the past several months has been developing a new FMCBC website through Wordpress. When we are ready to launch our site the address will be our current web address which is www.mountainclubs.org. I currently have to keep both somewhat up to date so I’m hoping to launch the new site by the end of June. Our Twitter and Facebook accounts are also called “mountainclubs” (Facebook: www.facebook/mountainclubs Twitter: @mountainclubs). These social media sites have not been busy so far, but our new site will link to them directly which will increase the amount we are posting to these sites. Some of the main goals for our new site are to incorporate the information from the private and public wikis into one location, to be more easily updatable (no ftp uploads required, all web based), to highlight current projects and initiatives through blog postings and to include a forum which FMCBC members will be able to use to discuss various topics. Much of the site is still in development, but you can view where we are at so far by going to www.mountainclubs.org/wordpress and send feedback to me if you have ideas for improvement or additions. Anyone with Wordpress and/or website experience and time to help, please contact me! I’m learning as I go and there are some areas I could use help with from an experienced person.

http://www.facebook/mountainclubs

http://www.mountainclubs.org/wordpress


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Waivers Another area I’ve been working on is having our Universal Waiver ready for membership renewal. Monika Bittel and I have the waiver now ready and I will be sending it out with the invoices in advance of the AGM. At the AGM I will also make a brief presentation on Best Practices when using Waivers. We’ll make this presentation available on our website as well. The following is a list of my plans and projects for 2013-2014 General Admin

Assist with formation of new committees – still need volunteers for Fundraising Committee

Produce and distribute invoices – last week of May 2013

Assist with preparations for the next AGM – in progress

Attend and take minutes for FMCBC committee meetings - ongoing

Prepare and submit application for property tax exemption for the Smoke Bluffs property – submitted and approved

Bookkeeping into Simply Accounting– I have been inputting our bookkeeping data directly into Simply Accounting on a regular basis – thank you to Elisa for the training!

Member Club Grant – develop a grant application process and administer the grant – in progress

Insurance

Continue as main contact with Integro and Capri and negotiate on behalf of the interests of our member clubs – provided all necessary application forms to brokers in preparation for renewal. Renewal with Integro and Capri took place May 4, 2013

Produce and distribute Insurance Invoices for 2012-2013 – this will happen last week of May, 2013

Develop a universal waiver with the Insurance Committee and Monika – completed and will distribute with invoices during last week of May. Will develop and present at the AGM a PowerPoint presentation with best practices for using the new waivers.

Assist with development of FMCBC Best Practices (Risk Management) Guidebook – to be started in the fall with some guidance from Integro

Fundraising

Develop list of potential grants, including their requirements and deadlines

Help establish a committee

Determine which grants the FMCBC and member clubs would qualify for and work towards applying for some of these

Assist clubs with preparing grant applications

Assist with development of a Financial Plan with the Board of Directors and Treasurer Communications/Promotion

Produce and distribute monthly E-News – ongoing. I will be trying MailChimp for distribution to fix issues with current bulk emailer


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Produce two issues of Cloudburst per year– Spring/Summer 2013 is currently at the printers and digital version will be completed and distributed in advance of the AGM

Communicate with our members through Facebook and Twitter – ongoing and planning to increase, would like to develop a rough communications plan

Develop new website including a blog for the FMCBC and link to Facebook and Twitter – in progress and hoping to launch by the end of June

Update website with FMCBC Accomplishments – in progress and looking for ways to display the information in an interactive way versus just as a list

Membership/Outreach

Develop list of potential member clubs across BC

Develop promotional package to send out potential member clubs and follow up

Create new PowerPoint presentation about the FMCBC – in progress

Develop a Membership Plan with the Outreach Committee Advocacy

Assist the Advocacy Committee with developing an Advocacy Toolkit – waiting on results from survey

Format position and policy papers

SW BC Recreation and Conservation Committee Report

Brian Wood and Monika Bittel (Committee Co-Chairs)

Below are several items which have kept the committee busy for the past year. Snowmobiles and other Off-Road Vehicles As usual most of the issues that have arisen in the last year relate to snowmobiles and their ever increasing intrusion into the local backcountry in spite of our attempts over the last few years to try to have some restrictions placed on their activities. Some of the proposals of the Off-Road Vehicle (ORV) Management Framework relating to snowmobiles have been passed into law recently which should reduce problems relating to tracking ownership of snowmobiles, but we want the law to be passed soon to cover all ORV’s, not just snowmobiles. We hope that the proposed mandatory registration of all ORV’s to carry adequately sized ID decals in proper locations on the vehicles will reduce ORV identification problems. Details of current and new vehicle owners will eventually be recorded in the digital record systems of ICBC. This will be a big improvement over the present manual paper system which applies only to snowmobiles and has poor (or non-existent) records of transfer of ownership. We are assuming there will be adequate funding for implementation and enforcement of this new system, however, funding shortages might account for the current delays of passing the proposed legislation into law. Some of the local areas of conflicts with snowmobile are discussed briefly below.


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Duffey Lake Corridor Over the last two decades this area has seen a steady increase in use by back country skiers, and more recently also by snowmobilers. On good weather weekends the ploughed parking areas from Joffre Lakes east are filled up and cars and truck/trailers are often seen parked along snow banks on the roadside which can be dangerous. This corridor straddles the LRMP boundaries of Squamish and Lillooet, and because the Lillooet LRMP was never properly finalised, areas on the eastern side of the Divide (Cayoosh Pass) do not have designated non-motorized zones. The heli-skiers used to be the main threat to a peaceful weekend in the Duffey area; however, more powerful snowmobiles and organised fuel caches are changing this, as well as impacting the experiences of heli-skiers. Popular drainages are becoming crowded and snowmobiles, some carrying skiers or boarders, are used more frequently for access and recreation. Most of the huts are “trepass” huts, i.e. built without permits. As parking, user conflicts, and human waste problems continue to increase, government agencies will have to address these problems sooner rather than later. One solution might be a multi-stakeholder committee, similar to the Sea-to-Sky Backcountry Forum. The FMC has contacted the appropriate government agencies about these problems, and we will have our first meeting in early June at the MOF Rec Sites and Trails office in Merritt to discuss the problems relating to the east side of the Divide. Our continuing meetings with the Sea-to-Sky MOF RS&T office will have to address the problems on the west side of the Divide as well as all the other recreation issues that have not yet been resolved in the Sea-to-Sky corridor, some of which are discussed below. 21 Mile Creek, Sproatt Mountain and Rainbow Lake Wildlands Area Over the last few years this area has occupied much volunteer time in accumulating data on snowmobile trespassing in this popular non-motorized area, and reporting the data to various government agencies and the local press. After many years of trying to educate the snowmobilers of the situation, and even getting some help from the Resort Municipality of Whistler, we have still not found a satisfactory method of dealing with the endless conflicts. There are problems with defining the boundaries of the non-motorized zones, as well as restricting main forest road access and parking. While parking restrictions or a Section 58 designation might be appropriate, other persons, including some ORV operators, feel that nothing less than impounding the vehicles of offenders will work, as less aggressive methods have consistently failed. We will continue negotiating with stakeholders for a solution and hope that something tangible and effective will come out of these endless negotiations. Tricouni/Cloudburst and Roe Creek Areas Powder Mountain Cat Skiing holds the tenure for most of this popular area and they now propose charging fees for snowmobilers to use their groomed trail in the hope that this might discourage snowmobilers from using this trail and thus solve the conflict problem for skiers accessing the Brew Hut, owned by the VOC. We have difficulty in seeing how this proposal will help skiers as there will still be snowmobilers in the general area. We feel the best solution would be to provide a non-motorized zone which keeps the snowmobiles away from the skiers' access trail to the Brew Hut, for example by designating the Chance Creek road non-motorized. Zoning of this whole area was never resolved by the Sea-to-Sky LRMP, and thus for many years


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we have been asking for a non-motorized route to the Brew hut. At one stage a possible solution was abandoned when the government representative working on this issue was transferred and the area defaulted to “multi-use” –i.e., motorized, and thus unsuitable for skiers. Mount Sproatt Mountain Biking Trail The Whistler Trails Planning Working Group is managing trails in the Whistler area and we are concerned about mountain bikers establishing a trail which could traverse the high ridges of Mt. Sproatt. While the bikers suggest that this trail could be a multi-use trail for hikers and bikers, we are concerned that the bikers would build the trial to suit their needs, i.e. heavily banked corners, which can make the trails more difficult for hikers. We are also concerned that some “renegade” bikers might be inclined to leave the main trail to initiate downhill runs through the delicate alpine area. Hikers are also concerned about bikers descending too quickly on steep trails that are also used by hikers, as has been previously discussed in this publication and many others. We will continue to monitor this area which seems to be attracting more attention from incompatible user groups. Callaghan Valley Backcountry Recreation Area Following the dogged persistence of some of our members, many of the earlier backcountry access problems have been largely resolved. While there continues to be some inconveniences relating to day-use procedures and overnight parking, skiers using this area have adapted to the current fees for parking and some groomed and track-set trail use. Garibaldi Provincial Park Management Plan Amendment and the Spearhead Huts Proposal Our members attended the open house where public comments submitted as a result of the amendment plan were reviewed. Notwithstanding that comments submitted against heli-skiing in the park were nearly twice as many as those in favour of heli-skiing, BC Parks indicated that there were no plans to discontinue heli-skiing in the Spearhead after the present 5-year term expires. This was because the comments received were not to be considered as a “vote”. It appeared to many folks that the decision to continue with the status quo was essentially political, driven by revenue. In the FMC’s comments on the management plan we requested that an effective and enforceable heli-ski “conflict avoidance protocol” should be stipulated in the park management plan and in the park use permit. We plan to submit samples of existing conflict avoidance protocols for use on Crown land tenures by various heli-ski operators, but these protocols are not suitable for our purposes as they do not provide adequate provisions for reporting infractions by the public and adequate enforcement provisions, particularly for this very popular and special area in a provincial park . We believe a good avoidance protocol would allow the heli-ski operator to be held accountable for its management of conflicts and to minimize conflicts with non-motorized backcountry users. In addition we anticipate that there will be a large increase of back country skiers using the proposed huts on the Spearhead Range, so that much of the area will not be suitable for heli-skiers due to expected increasing conflicts with the backcountry skiers. We understand that BC Parks is still reviewing the current Spearhead Huts proposal, but we are concerned that this is the only proposal submitted so far,


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and we would prefer to see alternative proposals so that BC Parks has more than one huts plan to review before making any final decision on this important back country area. Golden Ears Provincial Park Management Plan Amendment Most of the proposed amendments seem to be reasonable although we doubt there will be sufficient public funding to improve trails and access to trails, never mind building several proposed new trails and a bridge over Gold Creek. One concern related to increasing year-round use of this park, which meant mostly increasing winter use as this very popular park already has a great deal of summer use. We would normally approve measures to improve winter access to the park if this meant that the access roads which are normally gated during winter would be opened to permit driving to trailheads, conditions permitting. However there was mention of providing winter accommodation within the park itself, but details were vague as to the type of accommodation. Any permanent hotel-style accommodation would be counter to the public’s strong recommendations in the 1990's Park Legacy Project. Such accommodation would also be in competition with the existing privately-run accommodation located in local communities outside the park. Alternative “yurt style” accommodation, probably run by BC Parks, may remove funding which could otherwise be used for trail work and thus also not recommended. We stated these concerns in our written submission and at the follow-up open house. Mount Seymour and Cypress Parks Parking Issues Both parks have parking problems on the few weekends with good weather. This is the time when the ski areas make good money which helps cover operating losses which occur more frequently on bad weather days during the season. In the past, on the few good weather days when the parking lots fill up quickly, many paying lift users are forced to park a long way from the ski lifts. In both parks the ski area operators are blaming “early- bird” non-paying backcountry snowshoers and backcountry skiers on filling the lots and taking those parking slots closest to the ski lifts away from paying guests. Both parks are trying to force non-paying back country users to park further away from the lifts to make it a shorter walk for the fee-paying customers. This rule is not rigorously enforced on bad weather days as there are no parking problems on bad weather days. Other suggestions from the park operators include introducing a user fee payable by those who do not use the lifts to reduce the numbers of non-lift users, and of course we will vigorously argue against this suggestion. FMCBC Lands in Smoke Bluffs Park The FMC Board of Directors is considering a proposal whereby the District of Squamish will purchase the FMC lands and provide the FMC with an option to re-purchase the lands for a nominal amount, should certain conditions not be met. The conditions would protect climbers’ access to the crags and climbing on the crags. One of these conditions relates to ensuring that climbers have access to the crags “forever” and this condition introduces legal problems which require solving before anything can be finalised. The proposal and conditions are a work in progress. Before any decision is made, the FMC clubs and the climbing community will be consulted by the FMC. The FMC is working and consulting with the Squamish Access Society and Climbers’ Access Society on this proposal.


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Funding for BC Parks (Parks Elders Council etc.) At last year’s AGM, Ric Careless of BC Spaces for Nature (?) gave a presentation on possible ways to increase funding for BC Parks so that work can commence on the “park infrastructure deficit”, which is a fancy term, referring to badly maintained or unmaintained trails, bridges, toilets, camping sites etc. Up until the AGM we had been following discussions with the Parks Elders Council, CPAWS and other “grass-root” groups concerned about the sorry state of BC Parks which had received lots of negative publicity in local media. The FMCBC is not one of the “executive organisations” involved with this grass-roots initiative and so we have not received reports since then, which we were told was due primarily to uncertainty arising from the upcoming provincial election. The recent election results have prompted an open meeting in early July and two FMC representatives will be attending this meeting in Vancouver to keep us posted on progress in this important area. Province-wide Recreational Trails The final version (?) of the Provincial Trails Strategy (PTS) Report has just been released from the long-standing Draft stage. An initial brief study has not revealed any commitment for implementation of the details in this prettily produced report so we will probably have to do some prompting and prodding to get any results on the ground. Yet another province –wide trails meeting has been set for June, this time in Burnaby. Outdoor Recreation Council has arranged for several nation/province-wide recreation organisations to send speakers for a Trails Workshop where there will be opportunities for FMC representatives to discuss many important aspects of trails which hopefully will help with the implementation of some the recommendations of the PTS. A major concern for the FMC is the government pressure to agree to multi-use or shared trails (mostly motorized) which tends to attract government (and corporate?) funding much more easily than “hiker only” trails. Also, some mountain bikers have approached us to cooperate with them on trail building and maintenance, and we are concerned that this could result in biker-friendly trails replacing our traditional hiker-friendly trails. List of Accomplishments of the FMCBC Over the years we have received many questions, but a persistent question is something like, “What has the FMCBC done for me in return for my annual membership fee?” Well, to answer this question we are compiling a list of the FMCBC’s accomplishments over the years relating to recreation and conservation matters. As we are a province-wide organisation we have asked member clubs in regions of the province other than SW BC (i.e. Metro Van) to contribute to the list of accomplishments. The accomplishments can be those of the FMCBC, the member clubs or individual members of the clubs. Many successful accomplishments in conservation or recreation advocacy often require help from other like-minded organisations and members of the general public, and we would like to acknowledge the work of these organisations, member clubs and individuals. So please send us details of the accomplishments of your club’s members in this regard.


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SW BC Trails Committee Report

Alex Wallace (Committee Co-Chair)

Volunteer Liability in BC Parks The liability issue for volunteers in BC Parks has finally seen some progress as Government has put together a package of trail agreements and insurance that directors of clubs across the province will have to scrutinize in order to see if these are workable. These have been distributed to Directors for review. It appears that they will only apply to clubs, i.e. legal entities, not individuals. Detailed documents are available by email from FMCBC. http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/volunteers/about/how/ BC Parks Staffing There still is a problem with lack of staffing within BC Parks, with a total of 9 Full-time rangers and a pool of 70 or 80 auxiliaries who are hired on a seasonal basis (i.e. for four or five months at a time) and this is not likely to change in the near future, despite there now being 1,019 Parks and Protected areas in B.C. A suggestion was made to BC Parks that possibly fundraising could be organized by FMCBC Trails Committee with the intent specifically of having backcountry camps with additional auxiliary rangers working on those trails that are remote and do not get needed maintenance, however this was rejected on the basis that there are a set number of FTE’s and this cannot be changed, even with outside funds. In other words, this would be adding staff and “growing government”, which is against policy and cannot be contemplated. Trail Projects The first section of the Howe Sound Crest Trail has now reached completion, and the crew and machinery has completed a section on the approach to St. Marks, past the new bridges that we installed at Strachan Meadows, with the bad switchbacks ahead due to be decommissioned and replaced. However we now are told that the $450,000 that FMCBC and Friends of Cypress raised from VANOC and the NTC (i.e. Federal Government funding sources) has now been spent. BC Parks has also spent some $11,000 of their funds and has committed valuable staff time, however we now have pointed out that we have provided all of our available funds and volunteer time, and it is now BC Parks’ responsibility to put in matching funds to upgrade their trail, as 80% of the trail has yet to be upgraded - even if this is modest amount on a year by year basis. So far we have not made much progress in negotiations, and it would be unfortunate if the experienced and capable contractor who has taken on this project has to take on other work, as we are approaching the start of the short construction season at this elevation, which only lasts from July to Mid-October, i.e. less than four months. In contrast, we understand that $120,000 has been approved by BC Parks to repair Mountain Bike damage on the Old Buck Trail on Mt Seymour, a low elevation shared-use trail, and possibly not a project that many would classify as their highest priority, given the dire state of many high-elevation hiking trails in the Lower Mainland. Our current estimate is still that

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/volunteers/about/how/


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Garibaldi Park has a $6.3 million maintenance backlog, and with Cypress and Seymour both in need of maintenance in the region of $3.5 million, this is $13.3 million for just three Provincial Parks. Golden Ears $500,000 has now been committed by Minister Lake for needed the trail loop and bridge work that was outlined in the BC Parks management plan process for Golden Ears. This planning process itself is expected to be completed and signed off this summer, the same time that the much-anticipated Garibaldi Park management plan amendment is completed [the planning process largely related to the Spearhead Huts project and the Fitzsimmons Creek access]. The Pinecone-Burke Park Management planning process is now under way, although at this time only First Nations is in talks with BC Parks, and the full Open House public process with a draft plan will not start till the fall of 2013. http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/planning/mgmtplns/golden_ears/golden_ears_mp.html Lions Bay Hiking Access This problem has been one that FMCBC has tried to find a solution for over the past 23 years, including at least one abandoned attempt to build an MoF funded parking lot on Crown land at the trailhead (i.e. abandoned by MoF after a few residents objected). The solution of using the Elementary School parking during holidays and weekends has worked well in the eight years since Pat Harrison negotiated it on behalf of FMCBC, but we still get complaints from North Shore residents who are unable to find hiker parking in Lions Bay during the week ...and of course if you park “in the wrong place”, - which is just about anywhere, your vehicle will get towed away to North Vancouver. We have now explicitly suggested to these residents that they need to work with their West Vancouver and North Vancouver municipalities to negotiate a better solution, as Lions Bay residents clearly depend on those neighbouring communities for hospital, library, community centre, recreation, etc. and so a more reciprocal and “neighbourly” arrangement needs to be worked out. Cypress and Seymour Winter Access For a second year, Non-paying visitors to Mt Seymour were again banned from using the ski area parking lots within the controlled recreation area from November to April (i.e. during the ski season in their contract, six months of the year). Despite several meetings on the subject and on-site evaluations, it appears that this will be in place at least until the Mount Seymour Park management plan process this fall of 2013, and possibly beyond. The Mount Seymour ski operation ( which also runs most Provincial Park facilities in the Lower Mainland though its PFO arm “Sea to Sky Parks”, for example the Porteau Cove Park, campsite and cabins) has the right to restrict parking in their Park Use Permit of 1984, when the Seymour, Cypress and Manning ski operations were simultaneously privatized. A trial of restricted parking was put in place at Cypress for several weeks, 670 m. from the trailhead, but as it was both unsafe and not under threat of enforcement (and so was ignored), this trial has

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/planning/mgmtplns/golden_ears/golden_ears_mp.html


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been suspended while negotiations proceed: the alternative proposal by the ski operation is for the Winter Access trails at Cypress to be put under control of the ski hill, and a fee paid, basically to restrict numbers and give the ski hill compensation. In both cases, the root cause is the ski hills’ perception that the increasing number of snowshoers each winter is affecting their business, particularly on the 32 days of the year when they are at, or near, full capacity and “make money”. In other words, the snowshoers are now taking up parking spots that would others be used by paying customers, and both Nordic and Downhill revenue has seen a drop of roughly 30%. It has been put to the ski hills that there are possibly other factors at play, and that they themselves have promoted snowshoeing as the alternate ‘easy’ winter sport for boomers who do not wish to risk the groomed slopes, however when BC Parks installed people meters on backcountry trails this winter to gather hard data, their numbers closely match those reported by ski hill staff (for example at Cypress there are up to 1,000 snowshoers per day on Hollyburn and 500 per day in Cypress Bowl. At My Seymour the proposal to expand the park into the Seymour Conservation reserve in order to pave a sizeable forested area 100m West of the existing main parking lot (Lot 4) and adjacent wetlands in order to make a dedicated “backcountry only” parking and access area has been put forward, although it remains to be seen how this is to be approved (clearing old-growth forest) or funded (cost of at least $800,000 for the parking lot and 500m of access road.) As noted above, a full public process will be held by BC Parks this fall before this could be approved as part of the new Mount Seymour Park Management Plan. We hope to see active FMCBC members there..! Trail Markers Turning to some good news, the Trails Committee, after due discussion, is requesting that the FMCBC approve in its budget another bulk order of orange reflective trail markers, given that the first 5,000 were reasonably priced [$1 each] and popular with clubs. The sum proposed for approval is $5,000, on the same basis as the previous purchase. The Trails Committee would also like to recommend that the FMCBC cover half the cost for the trail markers in order to offer them at a further discount to our member clubs.

Advocacy Committee Report Gary Guthrie and Brian Wood (Committee Co-Chairs)

The Advocacy Committee is composed of members from clubs located in many parts of the province and consequently our meetings take place by telephone conference. This committee was formed with the goal of improving communications and sharing ideas between our member clubs province wide in order to improve our chances of successful outcomes when dealing with government agencies and other organizations.


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Simon Fraser University Research Project Most of the committee’s time over the past year has been spent discussing the research work being conducted on the FMCBC’s behalf by Dr. Wolfgang Haider of the SFU School of Resource & Environmental Management and his Research Assistant, Stephen Kux. The proposed project was to conduct an independent assessment of participation in FMCBC pertinent recreation activities for the entire province of British Columbia through an unbiased web-survey designed by Stephen Kux and facilitated by an external survey panel company. The main goals of the research were to estimate the participation rates and the economic impact of non-motorized outdoor recreation in BC. Over the past year the committee has worked with SFU to develop the survey questions. Committee members were educated on some of the many intricacies of developing an internet survey, including its protocol and its limitations. The committee reviewed several drafts of the survey and provided feedback and suggested improvements to SFU over the course of several months. In March the finalized survey called the BC Mountain Recreation Survey was given to an external survey panel company who sent it to over 3,355 randomly selected participants from across BC. After the random sampling was completed, the survey was made available to FMCBC members, but this biased data will be kept separate from the random sampling data. The raw data results were processed following standard procedures and SFU is currently in the process of analyzing the data and writing their report. A separate project involving a technical literature review of the health benefits of non-motorized outdoor recreation was also conducted by SFU. We knew that there were many international studies related to this complex subject and felt that a technical researcher, such as Stephen Kux, would find more relevant information than we could ourselves. He is also in an excellent position to provide us with an unbiased and professionally produced executive summary of the current literature. We hope to have draft reports of the two SFU projects for presentation at the AGM or soon afterwards for distribution via the listservs. FMCBC Policies or Position Papers To reduce duplication of effort and to enable us to draw on the experience and expertise of our wide ranging members, the committee is drafting several policies on recurring issues and problems that are common to our member clubs throughout the province. In this way we hope to be able to send to government agencies and other organizations our policy or position on issues that may occur at short notice, and that otherwise we would normally not have the time in which to prepare a proper response. The subjects for these papers are generally the result of an issue arising at a specific site or area in the province. This site-specific issue focuses our attention on the surrounding issues which we can then draft into a less site-specific, more general position or policy paper.

http://www.rem.sfu.ca/2009/07/23/welcome-to-rem/

http://www.rem.sfu.ca/2009/07/23/welcome-to-rem/

http://www.mtnrecreation.rem.sfu.ca/


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So far the committee has produced a policy document on Huts, Cabins and Lodges in BC Provincial Parks. This resulted from proposals for up-grading an existing hut in Mt Robson Park and several huts in the Spearhead Range in Garibaldi Park. Currently we are working on the somewhat contentious issues of multi-use trails and zoning, particularly as this relates to mountain bikes in parks. Also, some of our members on Vancouver Island are drafting proposals to improve public access to private lands which applies to some of their most popular recreation areas. Advocacy Tool Kit The committee started preliminary work on developing an ‘Advocacy Tool Kit’ for use by member clubs and individuals to lobby politicians on local issues. Advocacy strategies developed by the committee will be summarized for the tool kit, making implementation easy for non-committee members. This will be worked on further in 2013-2014 and will incorporate some of the results from the SFU studies.

Insurance Committee Report Scott Webster

This year the Insurance Committee has mostly been flying under the radar. The insurance was renewed without much fanfare when the insurer was able to continue providing the same terms as the previous year with the same premiums. This has been a welcome change from the constant negotiations and meetings from past years. Insurance continues to be a large draw for new member clubs and the FMCBC is committed to continuing to provide this service. Work continues on a recommended risk management policy and our universal waiver. The new universal waiver will help streamline the process and since it has been subject to legal review, will give clubs confidence that they are as protected as possible. The new universal waivers will be distributed with the 2013-2014 invoices in advance of the AGM and Jodi will give a brief presentation developed by her and Monika Bittel at the AGM on the best practices for using our new universal waiver.

Outreach Committee Report Jodi Appleton

We have had some great success getting the Outreach/Communications Committees going this year and any delays in our committee work are mainly attributable to my time constraints over the past year. Brian Wood and Samantha Harrigan stepped up as co-chairs for this committee and have provided support for me and new ideas for how to promote the FMCBC and educate people on who we are and our goals.

http://mountainclubs.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/FMCBC-Policy-on-Huts-Cabins-and-Lodges-in-BC-Provincial-Parks.pdf

http://mountainclubs.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/FMCBC-Policy-on-Huts-Cabins-and-Lodges-in-BC-Provincial-Parks.pdf


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This fall I hope to have more time to work on projects with this committee, but even under my time constraints we have been able to work together on several projects. Together, we have been working on the new website, we’ve begun the process of updating our PowerPoint presentations to educate members, potential clubs and the general public on the work that the FMCBC does, we are working on a list of FMCBC Accomplishments and how to share this information in an interactive way with our clubs and the general public, and we developed a portable display which we took with us to the Banff Mountain Film Festival and the International Mountain Film Festival when they were in North Vancouver this past fall. Our monthly E-News has continued to be produced, but we are in the process of changing over to a new bulk email program as I ran into technical issues over the past couple months with our current mailer. I plan to use MailChimp for our distribution of Cloudburst this month and see how that works for us. The Spring/Summer 2013 issue of Cloudburst is currently at the printers and should be hitting doorsteps and email inboxes soon. We’ll be bringing a bunch of copies to the AGM for member clubs to take home with them to distribute to club members, local libraries and outdoor stores in their regions. The next issue will go out in November and we are now accepting articles and looking for high resolution winter photos that include people recreating in the backcountry. Please send yours in by October 1st. The committee had an idea to produce a calendar for 2012 highlighting some of the work done by the FMCBC, but we were too late in collecting photos and descriptions to have it ready by then. We may try again for 2013, or put this one off for one more year until we have some committee members who are available to help with the production. We’re definitely seeking more members for this committee so if you are interested in helping out please let me, Brian or Samantha know. This committee actually gets to work on some pretty fun projects including marketing the FMCBC, choosing promotional materials, and reaching out to members and clubs through our newsletters, social media and on Club Tread.

Member Club Project Grant Jodi Appleton

Thank you to all those people and clubs who made a donation to the FMCBC in 2011-2012. Your donations made it possible for the FMCBC to support two of our member clubs and their projects last year. The Vancouver Island Spine Trail Association was awarded $2100 towards their Construction of Tuck Lake Hiking Trail project. The BC Mountaineering Club was awarded $2100 towards their Sigurd Creek Bridge project. Congratulations to these two clubs on your successful grant applications. You can view an update on VISTA’s Tuck Lake Hiking Trail project in the Fall/Winter 2012 issue of Cloudburst and you’ll be able to read about the Sigurd Creek Bridge project in the upcoming Spring/Summer 2013 issue of Cloudburst.

http://vispine.ca/

http://bcmc.ca/index.asp

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The FMCBC collected donations over our 2012-2013 fiscal year to put towards the FMCBC Member Club Project Grant for 2013. The total funding available for 2013 is $6,000 with $2,000 of that being allocated specifically to projects on Vancouver Island. We would like to thank the Vancouver Island Trails Information Society for their generous donation of $2000 to our grant fund this year to support a project on Vancouver Island. All FMCBC Member Clubs in good standing were eligible and invited to apply to receive grant funds. The 2013 Grant Committee is currently deliberating and will announce the grant awards at the AGM on June 8th. The FMCBC is now making an appeal to our members for donations to go towards our Member Club Project Grant for 2014. All donations to the FMCBC received between April 1, 2013 and March 31, 2014 will go directly towards our 2014 Member Club Project Grant. Thank you to everyone for making this a success!

annual report - federation of mountain clubs of bc...travel 1,370 2,000 (630) 692 travel expense...

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