IVILIZATION is reverting to its nomadic instincts. People are

becoming increasingly responsive to the urge to travel, as the
facilities become more and more complete. Places that a few years ago
were remote and inaccessible have been brought within the reach of the
multitude by the expansion of our highway systems and the develop-
ment of low-cost transportation.

That this is a boon and a blessing nobody will gainsay. It has
brought a new joy, new colour, into the lives of countless thousands,
has broadened their view-points and widened their horizons immeasur-
ably; but it has brought its responsibilities.

Now that the man in the street has become travel-minded, now that
all he needs is the ambition and the energy to move around, there has
been brought forcibly to the notice of our administrative bodies the
importance of setting aside certain areas, to be preserved inviolate for
succeeding generations, so that they may continue to feast their eyes on
untamed mountains, untrammelled streams, and unharnessed waterfalls,
and enjoy the grand spectacles afforded by Nature kept free from com-
mercialism.

Its vastness and the infinite variety of its scenery make the North
American Continent peculiarly suitable for these experiments. It has
been singularly fortunate, too, in its Governments, which have been
quick to adopt this inspired form of conservation. To-day, the people
of the United States and Canada are the proud possessors of the most
magnificent National Parks in the world, great areas set aside definitely
to be held immune from all but strictly necessary improvement, and
dedicated to posterity.

No area is more richly endowed than British Columbia. Its scenery
is superb, its resources of fish and game are unique, its highway system
gives access to every settled part. It is traversed by two great trans-
continental railways, and has a coastal steamship service which is a
revelation of the ease and luxury which can attach to ocean travel.
All the inducements and facilities for travel are present to a marked
degree. Consequently, British Columbia has been conspicuously active
in reserving certain areas for park purposes and, in addition to its
National Parks, has no less than six Provincial Parks. Three of them
are nearly 1,000 square miles in extent; and one, Tweedsmuir Park—
the latest and greatest, and so named by the gracious consent of His
Excellency, Lord Tweedsmuir, our Governor-General— covers 5,400
square miles, which makes it the largest of Canada’s Scenic Parks.

Five.