The Morrissey Boat Launch will get a facelift next month as Tourism Fernie embarks on a project to improve boat launch areas along the Elk River.
The site will get a new concrete ramp, signs and an improved parking area, with work expected to start and finish in September.
Jikke Gyorki, Tourism Fernie’s Executive Officer said the site is an important access point for fly fishing and paddling.
“Elk River infrastructure improvements at key river access sites have been a long time coming and a priority of the Sustainable Tourism Strategy and Tourism Master Plan,” said Gyorki.
“The only official access site on the Elk River is Dogwood Park in Fernie. All other key sites such as Morrissey, Olsen Pit, Hosmer and Elko have never been formalized with land-use agreements and infrastructure.”
The project has been a multi-year process spearheaded by Tourism Fernie, with partnerships from Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK), BC Parks and the Elk River Alliance.
The B.C. government provided $300,000 in 2021, which prompted more funding from Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC (FFSBC), Columbia Basin Trust (CBT), Elk Valley Resources (EVR, formerly TECK Coal) and the Outdoor Recreation Council of BC.
“It has been an exciting yet extensive and costly project with many hurdles to get to this point,” said Gyorki.
“It has taken the project team three years to get to this stage. Though September is still a busy time for river use it is the only month a boat launch is allowed to be installed on the riverbank due to fisheries, so we are working with McElhanney and the contractor Gally Equipment Services to push the work as close to the end of September as possible.”
Other projects are also in the works, with improvements at Dogwood, Olsen Pit, Hosmer and Elko.
“Our next goal with the Morrissey river access site under the Sustainable Tourism Strategy is to expand the parking and amenities by furthering our partnership with the Regional District of East Kootenay under their Regional Parks program,” said Gyorki.
“RDEK Area A Director Thomas McDonald has been extremely supportive and supports seeing BC Parks transfer Morrissey Provincial Park to the Regional District of East Kootenay parks system, which would allow for further Area A improvements to happen.”
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