Editor:
I read with dismay Donna Barnett’s column entitled ‘There’s no place like home’ in the July 1 issue of the Tribune.
She wrote about the ‘wide open spaces, clear rivers, hiking and outdoor vehicle trails abound’.
To speak about this in a newspaper is one thing, but have you ever travelled the forest service roads that access these “amazing spaces to explore and connect with nature?”
I have lived in the Horsefly area for the past nine years because I enjoy the outdoors and the amazing opportunities it offers, but the lack of maintenance on the roads are making these areas inaccessible without lifted 4x4 vehicles, heavy duty suspensions and other pricey upgrades.
In my journeys I have witnessed several vehicles with ruined tires, broken suspensions, given rides to a few folks who needed tow trucks because of their broken down vehicles. People pulling trailers will only travel these roads once, before they realize their expensive rigs are being wrecked. Try calling up the Ministry of Forests to ask them to grade the roads once in a while and all you hear back is ‘there is no money’ or ‘it is not our responsibility.’ If you want tourism, then you have to spend the money.
This year I have seen the beautiful new wooden signs pointing to the various forest service campgrounds on these roads, but who do they expect to attract with roads in these deplorable conditions?
It is one thing for our politicians, Destination BC and others to laud the attractions of our area, but if no one can access the attractions then Donna Barnett’s musings on ‘there is no place like home’ will take on a different meaning, because that is where people will stay — in their homes!
Jeanette Turpin
Horsefly