EDMONTON (660 NEWS) – Free camping on Crown land could soon be a thing of the past as a bill to introduce annual user fees has passed its first reading in the legislature.
If passed, Bill 64, the Public Lands Amendment Act, 2021, will allow the government to collect fees for overnight camping on public lands.
Day users of Crown lands such as hikers and ATV users will not have to pay.
Along with the amendments, the UCP also announced plans to implement a Public Land Camping Pass on June 1, along the Eastern Slopes.
The Public Land Camping Pass would be $20 per person for a three-day pass and $30 per person for an annual pass.
“Bill 64 will ensure that Crown land recreation is sustainably funded and will help conserve our wild and beautiful landscapes for generations to come,” said Minister of Environment and Parks, Jason Nixon.
While many groups including the Alberta Snowmobilers Association and the Fish and Game Association are in favour of the proposed rules, others are not.
In a release, the Alberta Wilderness Association said the bill breaks a campaign promise from the UCP saying “The Party’s platform clearly shows the UCP didn’t plan, if elected, to introduce a camping pass that all overnight backcountry users would need to purchase. Furthermore, the measure was not, as far as we can find, discussed in Budget 2021.”
The association is calling for the government to immediately withdraw the bill.
The Opposition NDP is also criticizing the move, saying now is not the time to hammer Albertans with new fees, especially considering they can’t meet at restaurants and movie theatres.
The NDP worries that this could lead to the UCP hiking more user fees in the future.
