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The Babine River protection story is a classic case of the Economics of Preservation. In the late 1980's the Babine, a world-renowned sport fishery, the last trophy steelhead wilderness river still intact and one of Canada's premier salmon runs, was prevented from being irreversibly devastated.
In the wake of Vancouver's Expo 86 world's fair, tourism had become the province's largest land-based employer. It supported 125,000 full-time jobs and was the second biggest source of natural resource revenues. Already British Columbia had the largest adventure tourism industry in North America, offering sport fishing, hunting, wildlife viewing, river running, trail riding, hiking, and backcountry skiing.
Furthermore, on the famed Inside Passage to Alaska, 400,000 cruise ship passengers a year came to experience the wild forest coastline. In short, British Columbia's tourism industry relied on a top-quality wild environment to attract visitors from around the world. Given all these facts, it was madness that the province allowed the logging companies to savage irreplaceable natural treasures like the Babine River.
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"It is also a world-class location for rafting and kayaking."
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Yet the old reality continued, resulting in Super-Natural British Columbia remaining under siege by an insatiable logging industry. To forge resistance to this threat, a number of adventure tourism operators banded together in mid-1987 to form the Wilderness Tourism Council (WTC) of British Columbia. Its members felt that it was high time for the new importance of tourism to be reflected in land-use decisions.
The message was clear: protecting British Columbia's environment made good economic sense.
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"Already British Columbia had the largest adventure tourism industry
in North America."
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The Babine River which runs north and east of Smithers, is considered in angling circles as the world's greatest steelhead river, and it is also a world-class white-water run for rafters and kayakers. The Babine River is fed by British Columbia's largest natural lake. (Like the river, both the mountains and this lake have the same name.) The upper part of the 100 km (60 mile) long river flows across the flat terrain of the Interior Plateau before cutting through mountains to join the Skeena River. From this juncture the Skeena runs a further 400 km (250 miles) to the sea.
Click on the map to view an enlargement
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Hiking, horse-riding, and fishing are all popular in this region, and it is a favourite ski spot of the Bulkley Valley. Nordic skiers and snowshoers enjoy the 26 km (16 mile) circuit into Silver King Basin. The Babine River is known as the world's greatest steelhead river and it supports one of Canada's premier salmon runs. It is also a world-class location for rafting and kayaking.
Fishers like to go after the ainbow trout and char that are found in Babine Lake, BC's largest lake. Rock hounds come to the shores of Babine and Ootsa lake to look for fossil and agate treasures. There is a wide variety of accommodation available in this region including lodges, resorts, and campgrounds. Please visit BC Parks Babine River Corridor site for more information.
The Babine River is known internationally for consistently producing record-size specimens that weigh up to 18 kg (39 lbs). Read on to discover what it's like to catch a steelhead.
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"In the late 1980's the Babine, a world-renowned sport fishery, the last trophy steelhead wilderness river still intact and one of Canada's premier salmon runs, was prevented from being irreversibly devastated."
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While the Skeena River has become a major communication corridor, with railway, highway, and power lines paralleling it, the Babine remains intact. Here, by contrast, the only travelers are the 13,000 steelhead that swim along with much larger numbers of salmon (1.75 million). In summer and fall, when the run is on, grizzlies come down to fish, and so do people. There is a site along the river which is known as Grizzly Drop, since as many as 15 bears can be spotted at one time during salmon spawning runs.
Flocks of several hundred Sandhill cranes migrate through this area in the spring and fall. This grey bird is distinguished by red markings on its head and face and makes a distinctive call not unlike the sound of a bellowing bull.
"The message was clear: protecting British Columbia's environment made good economic sense."
Return to the Central Interior Region
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