Editor:
Red plastic chairs – no! Paint existing benches and picnic tables – yes!
Why do visitors need a childish treasure hunt to find these red plastic chairs in order to appreciate our national parks?
I can see more garbage and trampling of sensitive areas. For many years, I have gently tried to find out why we have picnic tables and benches in Banff National Park left unpainted showing no regular maintenance.
What an image for visitors and locals alike to sit on these structures at Cascade Ponds, Johnston Lake and Lake Minnewanka. What possible excuse is there for leaving these structures in such a neglected and rundown state?
This latest venture from Parks’ head office to place plastic chairs in various sites to enhance appreciation of our natural areas is just another marketing strategy to attract more and more people to our parks.
Parks Canada has strayed from its original mandate of preservation and conservation. It has fallen dismayingly into the trap of materialism. Heaven forbid, we find red plastic chairs at the top of Boom Lake trail.
There is an old saying “Learn to Honour Your Nest” which is befitting of this hairbrained idea.
Eileen Patterson,
Canmore
