From entry charges to conservation, public weighs in on future of Canada's parks

On the final day of public consultations on the future of Canada's parks, dozens of people put forward their thoughts at the Halifax Seaport Farmers' Market.

Parks Canada has been doing in-person and online consultations on national parks and historic sites, which will be condensed into a report due out in March.

"The top priority really has to be to engage the youngest generation in parks," said Sally Ravindra, who is from Halifax and attended Friday's event.

"People like me, my age, many of us were brought up going on hikes and going to camp and camping out with our parents who couldn't afford hotels.

"But these days that seems to be much less. So I fear that the coming generation, my grandchildren, will miss that opportunity."

Many sites in poor condition

Last year, Parks Canada issued a report on the state of its properties across the country. Forty-seven per cent of the properties, which include parks and national historic sites, were rated in poor to very poor condition. The rest were rated as good to fair.

That 47 per cent is a small improvement from 2012, when more than half of the assets were in poor to very poor condition.

At Friday's consultation, Reese Lee said her top priority would be conservation for land and marine areas.

"Global warming is a thing, and eventually things are going to disappear and we want to conserve that as long as possible," she said.

Otherssaid it was important to keep admission charges to national parks and sites low.

"I think it would be nice if people didn't have to pay so much to go to those parks, because if you have a family with two or three children or more, it can be quite expensive," said Jan Jericho.

Cape Breton sites in poor condition

In the 2016 report, the lowest rated properties in Nova Scotia were the Fortress of Louisbourg, which received an overall poor rating, and the forest in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park, which was rated in poor and declining condition.

Parks Canada saidthe moose population in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park is unsustainable, at an estimated 1.9 moose per square kilometre. Parks Canada considers a healthy forest able to support 0.5 moose per square kilometre.

It said the Fortress of Louisbourg is also undergoing $21.4-million inrestoration work.

There has been a controversial moose cull in Cape Breton Highlands National Park in recent years aimed at cutting the population to help the boreal forest regrow.

• 3rd moose cull planned in national park to protect boreal forest

Parks Canada did ratecoastal and marine ecosystems as improving, making note of "the beginnings of a recovery of eelgrass beds in Kejimkujik following a successful reduction of the invasive green crab."

"Monitoring in 2017 shows a very impressive return to 38 per cent eelgrass coverage and staff are starting to see Canada Geese and native marine invertebrates again in numbers that haven't been observed at the Seaside [Adjunct] in about a decade," spokesperson Audrey Champagne wrote in an email.