The effects of park establishment on local populations : a case study of Sooke Potholes Provincial Park, B.C.
Date
1984
Authors
Butcher, Gillian Mary
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Abstract
This study examines the social impacts of park establishment on local populations. The first part of the study reviews the literature in this field, and shows that most research to date has been done on the social effects of national parks in relatively isolated areas. The second part of the thesis consists of a case study which investigates the social impacts of a small provincial park, Sooke Potholes, on the adjacent rural community thirty kilometres west of Victoria, B.C.
A mail questionnaire was designed to find out how park establishment at Sooke Potholes had affected Sooke community, particularly in terms of intangible costs to residents and changes in their recreation patterns. This questionnaire was sent to two hundred people in Sooke community. An interview survey of visitors at the park was also conducted to investigate current aspects of the park's impacts. It was found that park formation at Sooke Potholes led to an increase in visitation rates to this recreation area, mainly by people from Victoria. The rise in visitors led to overcrowding and congestion at the park at times of peak demand, and physical deterioration of the site. These impacts were resented by many Sooke residents, particularly long term members of the community because they had a proprietary interest in the Potholes as a relatively quiet, unspoiled community recreation area. At present resentment of overcrowding at the park during peak periods is interwoven with conflict over a major development occurring on the Sooke River above the park. Conflict over crowding at the park is accounted for in terms of Jacob and Schreyer's (1980) theory of conflict in recreation.
The study suggests that some of Sooke community responded to conflict at the park by avoiding it altogether and using other recreation sites in quieter areas. Alternatively, they hike beyond the park to more isolated parts of the Sooke River or they visit the park midweek or off season when it is less crowded. In general Sooke residents recognise the social and economic benefits of an increase in outside visitors to the community and view the changes at the park as part of other inevitable changes presently occurring in Sooke, such as the development of the area for tourism and its increasing role as a dormitory town for Victoria.
The displacement of residents in park areas from community recreation sites, by park visitors is one form of resource alienation. This phenomenon involves the formal or inadvertent restriction or prohibition of residents' resource-based activities in park areas. Resource alienation was found to recur in many studies of park establishment and local populations. It is important in assessments of the social impacts of park formation because it is often at the root of local opposition to park proposals or conflict over park impacts. Resource alienation is related to the concept of resource hinterlands, which may be applied to parks to explain their role as a 'playground' for cities. The view of parks as resource hinterlands, or as part of the recreational hinterland of a city is also important in assessment of the social impacts of parks, because this view provokes intense feelings of resentment towards the park and its visitors by local residents. Decisions regarding the designation of areas for parkland should be made on the basis of the social, economic and physical suitability of the area in question.