Interviews with Tom Moore and Ed Mankelow
PublicPart 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". Rich Searle interviews with Tom Moore and Ed Mankelow. Moore speaks about his employment with BC Parks (1950-1995), including positions as district manager and regional manager. He names the parks he worked in, which included most of the parks in BC. Moore characterizes the 1960s as a time of tough budgeting processes, the 1970s as a time when more money than could be spent responsibly and the 1980s as a time when development was sold off and programs were done away with (e.g. youth crew). Moore's most memorable experiences include building a park from start to finish in a single year (e.g. Okanagan Lake Park) as well as developing ski areas in Manning Park and Cypress Mountain. He does not feel that he has one single biggest accomplishment, but names youth crews and building chair lifts amongst best accomplishments. He hopes he is remembered for being a builder, a doer and a hard-nosed "budgeter". Moore counts the ups and downs of government changes as his major challenge, as they made it difficult to budget and set priorities. In terms of lessons learned, Moore feels that having consistent staff rather than relying on auxiliaries is important. His future wishes for BC Parks include BC parks becoming a commission (like BC Hydro) with a budget not just from government, but also from donations. This would allow more planned development by need. In closing, Moore names his mentors, including Charlie Valet and Ian Leeman, and remarks that he feels disappointed that the regional status of parks is gone. He believes that today, consistency in the BC Parks system has been lost and he would like to see BC parks move back to a decentralized system that works better, giving district authority and allowing for greater consistency. Camera shots show Tom Moore indoors with a plant in the background. Interviewer is seen at end of interview. Mankelow speaks about his involvement with BC Parks and protected areas through work with the Parks and Wilderness Land Use Committee of the BC Wildlife Federation (1962-2006), the Canadian Wildlife Federation, the BC Parks Legacy Panel and the Parks Advisory Committee. He is most familiar with parks where he park host, namely Spatzisi and Kakwa, as well as Strathcona Park on Vancouver Island. Mankelow recounts his most memorable experiences, such as park inaugurations and watching wild animals in their native habitat. His biggest accomplishments center on awards he has received for his environmental work over the years, including the award for outstanding conservationist in Canada (1979), the Barsby Award for Conservation (1979) and the Millenium Award for protection of parks. Mankelow hopes to be remembered for his passion for parks, which comes from his true belief in young people. Mankelow sees securing continued financial support from government and the 2010 Olympics as the next major challenges for parks and protected areas. Mankelow's regrets are few, but he does regret suggesting the co-management of wild rivers in BC. The biggest lessons he has learned is the strength of people power, the importance of ecological integrity above recreation and the importance of education and involving young people. He hopes that BC Parks will not turn to commercialization in the future. Mankelow lists several mentors, including Bob Ahrens, Bert Brink, Bob Peterson, Helut Williams, Rick Searle and others. Mankelow ends the interview by reiterating the importance of young people and by speaking with interviewer about Strathcona, lodges in parks and other park related issues. Camera shots show Ed Mankelow indoors with a plant in the background. Interviewer is seen towards the end of interview.
- In Collection:
- Moore, Tom
- Mankelow, Ed
- Conservation of natural resources
- Conservation of natural resources--Societies, etc.
- Wildlife conservation
- Nature conservation
- Nature conservation--Societies, etc.
- Wilderness areas
- Biodiversity conservation
- Natural areas
- Parks--Conservation and restoration
- Parks
- National parks and reserves
- National parks and reserves--Management
- Parks--Employees
- Parks--Employees--Attitudes
- BC Parks
- Oral histories
- Parks--Management
- 00:46:07
- Tom Moore and Ed Mankelow Interviews
- 49.39556, -123.20336
- 49.66631, -125.66961
- 49.06642, -120.78578
- Elders Council for Parks in British Columbia
- Donated to the University of Victoria Archives on October 20, 2008 by Rick Searle (EKOS Communications).
- Accession Number: 2011-006
- 2011
- 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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