Lil’wat Nation has announced further temporary closures at Joffre Lakes Park for 2025, following the April 25 to May 19 reconnection period. The popular recreation site will be closed to the public from June 13 to 17 and Aug 22 to Oct 23 as part of an ongoing partnership agreement between BC Parks and the Lil’wat and N’Quatqua Nations.
During those times, both Nations will engage in spiritual activities and carry out cultural practices like hunting, fishing and harvesting medicines.
“Community members are getting to utilize areas where they were previously removed or denied access,” according to a release from Lil’wat. “This reconnection is integral to the well-being of the two Nations’ community members as they look for traditional methods to help cope with grief, addictions, suicide and mental health.”
The Nations first employed these temporary closures in Joffre, known as Pipi7íyekw, in 2023. The Nation said that the reconnection periods, carried out in conjunction with a joint provincial visitor use management strategy, are already “demonstrating tangible differences” on the park’s ecosystem.
“We are noticing the Whiskey Jacks are becoming less conditioned to approach people for food, and the Pikas are being seen in greater numbers without dogs visiting the park” says Casey Gonzalez, director of Title & Rights at Lil’wat Nation, in a statement.
The Nations emphasized that they would like to see recreation and cultural land use prioritized equally, moving forward. They added that while efforts to reduce human impacts on the park—including daily visitor limits and mandatory day use passes during peak season—are being made, there is “still much room for improvement.”
“These changes wouldn’t happen if we don’t assert our inherent rights,” said Lil’wat Nation’s political chief Kúkwpi7 Skalúlmecw Dean Nelson. “It’s our responsibility as stewards to protect the land; it’s been overused for too long by too many people.”
Joffre Lakes Park has seen a massive increase in traffic over the last decade. The park reached an all-time high of 196,300 visitors in 2019, prompting the province to introduce the day pass system in 2021.
As of May 17, day passes are required to visit Joffre. The passes can be reserved online at 7 a.m. up to two days before a planned visit on BC Parks’ website.
