Visitors will soon have more camping opportunities on Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast, with the completion of more than 100 new campsites in time for the upcoming camping season.

A landmark 10,000 BC Parks licence plates have been sold – a milestone reached less than eight weeks after the specialty plates were unveiled earlier this year.

Environment Minister Mary Polak and Energy and Mines Minister Bill Bennett have issued an environmental assessment certificate to AuRico Metals Inc. for the Kemess Underground project, an underground copper-gold mine, which is located approximately 250 kilometres north of Smithers, and 430 kilometres northwest of Prince George in the Peace River Regional District.

Non-domestic users of groundwater in British Columbia will now have until Dec. 31, 2017, to apply for a licence without having to pay the one-time application fee.

To ensure safe drinking water for residents in the Hullcar Valley, the Province is providing $950,000 to support alternative drinking water sources, fund treatment for domestic well users and support sustainable, environmentally appropriate farming in the Hullcar Valley.

Environment Minister Mary Polak and Natural Gas Development Minister Rich Coleman have issued an environmental assessment certificate to NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd. for the Towerbirch Expansion Project, an 87-km-long interprovincial natural gas pipeline between British Columbia and Alberta.

Minister of Environment Mary Polak has issued the following statement in regard to the waste discharge permit held by Cobble Hill Holdings Ltd. for its facility near Shawnigan Lake:

Visitors will soon be able to book more backcountry adventures at Garibaldi Provincial Park, a favourite backcountry destination for outdoor enthusiasts.

The Province, in partnership with the BC Community Bat Program and other concerned groups, are asking the public to be on the lookout for dead or sick bats that may have contracted an invasive fungal disease called White Nose Syndrome.

British Columbia’s Quarterly Environmental Enforcement Summary for the first quarter of 2016 outlines four orders, 15 administrative sanctions, 279 tickets and 25 court convictions for a combined total of over $3.5 million in penalties.