Interviews with Victor Bopp, Gordon MacDonald and Jim Delikatny

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Part of a collection of video oral history interviews with park pioneers, as well as some events, created by EKOS Communications in partnership with the Elders Council for Parks of British Columbia to commemorate the 100th anniversary of BC Parks in 2011. The Elders Council is an independent society, whose members are retired parks system employees and conservation advocates who have dedicated a significant portion of their lives to parks and protected areas in BC. These interviews served as source material for the documentary BC Parks: Celebrating 100 Years of Recreation and Protection. Standard questions were used in most of the interviews and included dates of employment/association with BC Parks, parks worked in, greatest challenges, accomplishments and regrets, lessons learned, hopes for provincial park system today and mentors.Part of Elders’ Council for Parks in British Columbia oral history interview series, collected for the documentary "BC Parks: Celebrating 100 Years of Recreation and Protection". Rick Searle interviews with Victor Bopp, Gordon MacDonald and Jim Delikatny. Bopp speaks about his employment with BC Parks (1963-1995) and the parks he worked in. He touches on the changes he witnessed over the years, especially in terms of training, regulations, unions and increased public awareness of environmental issues. His most memorable moments include Bowron Lake and the first meadow rehabilitation in BC that took place in Black Tusk, which he counts amongst his major accomplishments. His challenges included personnel management, government and policy changes, setting priorities and budgets. Bopp admits that he might have done something differently if there was any way to anticipate where policy changes would occur and that would incorporate the environmental issues that arose in the 1990s. The greatest lesson from his experience was to be open to information and to find new ways to approach situations. Looking ahead, Bopp's biggest hope for BC Parks is government support, finding a balance between recreation and conservation and balancing economics. Bopp talks about allowing ecosystems in parks to change as a part of nature, then moves on to name mentors, such as Ian Leeman, Jim Delikatny, Jake Mazalink, Tom Moore, Struan Robertson. MacDonald speaks about his employment with BC Parks (1960-1996) and various roles, such as district manager in the regions of Fort St. John area/Peace-Liard, Prince George and Terrace/Skeena-Charlotte. He names the parks he worked in as well as his most memorable experiences, including his work with aboriginal groups, grizzly bear management and various park management projects. Amongst his major accomplishments, MacDonald counts managing resources at Furlong Bay and managing the youth crew program, particularly the female youth crew in Mt. Robson and the camps at Carp Lake and Krugat River. MacDonald speaks about challenges he faced while at BC Parks, including budgets, transportation, moving and schedules. He names few regrets. MacDonald sees BC Parks' main challenges in stakeholders and shrinking natural habitats. He hopes that the system will build the capability to manage areas, create mandates, secure finances and gain greater stakeholder support. Denis Podmore, Derek Thompson, Jake Masalink and Tom Moore number amongst MacDonald's mentors and influences. Delikatny speaks about his employment with BC Parks from 1956 to 1988 in various roles such as machine operator, foreman, regional supervisor (Prince George) and district manager (Squamish/Garibaldi 1966-1988). Delikatny names the parks he worked in and describes his time in BC Parks. He sees Garibaldi park as the jewel of his career, along with the trail to Black Tusk, the road to Whistler and skiing experiences. The recovery program in Garibaldi park and Black Tusk area are mentioned amongst his major accomplishments. Delikatny touches on several challenges he faced in his career, including lack of experience, pressure to meet demands and Communications. In the future, he would like to see BC Parks preserve more of Garibaldi and believes that park use should be limited and more closely managed. His mentors include Denis Bodmore and Ian Leeman.

In Collection:
Creator Contributor Subject Language Date created Resource type Rights statement Extent
  • 00:53:02
Alternative title
  • Victor Bopp, Gordon MacDonald and Jim Delikatny interviews
Geographic coverage Coordinates
  • 56.24988, -120.85292
  • 53.92389, -122.77571
  • 54.4783, -128.5918
  • 53.1666, -121.08608
Additional physical characteristics
  • The Bopp interview runs 00:00:00-00:19:11; the MacDonald interview runs 00:19:12-00:38:58 and the Delikatny interview runs 00:39:00-00:53:02.
Physical repository Collection
  • Elders Council for Parks in British Columbia
Provenance
  • Donated to the University of Victoria Archives on October 20, 2008 by Rick Searle (EKOS Communications).
Provider Genre Archival item identifier
  • Accession Number: 2011-006
Fonds title Fonds identifier Is referenced by Date digitized
  • 2011
Technical note
  • Migration metadata from UVicSpace to Vault by KD, Summer 2024.
Rights
  • This item is under copyright and made available on this site for research and private study only. Commercial use is prohibited. For all other uses please contact UVic Libraries' Special Collections and University Archives.
DOI

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