One of the most important river access sites on the Elk River for fly fishing and paddling will be undergoing construction this September to install a concrete boat launch ramp, signage kiosks and initial improvements to the existing parking area. Lead by Tourism Fernie, in partnership with the Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK), BC Parks and the Elk River Alliance, the project has been funded by RDEK Area A, the Province of BC’s Targeted Regional Tourism Development Initiative, Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC (FFSBC), Columbia Basin Trust (CBT), Elk Valley Resources (EVR, formerly TECK Coal), Outdoor Recreation Council of BC and Tourism Fernie.
“Elk River infrastructure improvements at key river access sites have been a long time coming and a priority of the Sustainable Tourism Strategy and Tourism Master Plan” exclaimed Jikke Gyorki, Tourism Fernie’s Executive Officer.
“The only official access site on the Elk River is Dogwood Park in Fernie. All other key sites such as Morrissey, Olsen Pit, Hosmer and Elko have never been formalized with land-use agreements and infrastructure.”
Back in 2020 the Province announced a new tourism development grant for eligible regional tourism projects. The Elk River Access Improvements project was already a key priority for the valley and thanks to the initial proposal work done by Paul Samycia of Elk River Guiding and the Elk River Alliance a grant application for funding was submitted.
The Province of BC awarded $300,000 in 2021 which was leveraged to source additional funders such as RDEK Area A, CBT, FFSBC and EVR to support the Elk River and Sustainable Tourism Projects in the area.
“It has been an exciting yet extensive and costly project with many hurdles to get to this point,” said Jikke. “From confirming land ownership, partnerships and government land-use approval processes to engineering and design work, the federal processes and approvals for work in and along a fish bearing river and more, it has taken the project team three years to get to this stage. Though September is still a busy time for river use it is the only month a boat launch is allowed to be installed on the riverbank due to fisheries, so we are working with McElhanney and the contractor Gally Equipment Services to push the work as close to the end of September as possible.”
Other river access locations have already begun to see some improvements, including Olsen Pit and Hosmer, and a new sign kiosk is in the works for Dogwood. The Elko take-out is also now a ‘shovel-ready’ project with all permits and approvals in place for construction. However, additional funds are needed to complete that location.
“Our next goal with the Morrissey river access site under the Sustainable Tourism Strategy is to expand the parking and amenities by furthering our partnership with the Regional District of East Kootenay under their Regional Parks program,” said Jikke. “RDEK Area A Director Thomas McDonald has been extremely supportive and supports seeing BC Parks transfer Morrissey Provincial Park to the Regional District of East Kootenay parks system, which would allow for further Area A improvements to happen.”
For more information about Tourism Fernie’s Sustainable Tourism Strategy, the Tourism Master Plan or the Elk River Access Improvements project please email [email protected]. The Sustainable Tourism Strategy and Tourism Fernie’s AmbassadorWILD program won the Best Community Project Award last year from the BC Economic Development Association.
Banner image: Elk River, Curtis Hall.