{"id":292,"date":"2020-02-27T19:32:29","date_gmt":"2020-02-27T19:32:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kevanbracewell.com\/?page_id=292"},"modified":"2021-04-07T19:32:59","modified_gmt":"2021-04-07T19:32:59","slug":"stewardship-is-essential-to-wilderness-tourism","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.kevanbracewell.com\/conservation\/stewardship-is-essential-to-wilderness-tourism\/","title":{"rendered":"For Kevan Bracewell, Stewardship is Essential to Wilderness Tourism"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Kevan Bracewell sees stewardship and conservation as integral components of wilderness tourism. This core-belief is visible in every facet of Chilcotin Holidays<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>At a glance\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Kevan Bracewell\u2019s deep respect for the wilderness has impacted every facet of the wilderness tourism activities he offers at Chilcotin Holidays.<\/li>\n<li><u>The Details:<\/u> From ranch stays to grizzly viewing adventures, each journey at Chilcotin Holidays begins with an introduction to the specialness of these mountains and invites guests to participate in real-world conservation projects.<\/li>\n<li><u>Purpose:<\/u> To run wilderness tourism programs that give more back to the land than they take.<\/li>\n<li><u>Goals Achieved: <\/u>Continuous collection of wildlife data has led to sustainable land management plans and the creation of protected natural parks. And, every year, over 500 guests return home with a newfound appreciation for the wilderness and a conservation-minded approach to life.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The Whole Story&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Since 1990, Kevan Bracewell has been running the wilderness tourism company, Chilcotin Holidays,\u00a0 in the remote South Chilcotin Mountains. With each journey into the wilderness, Kevan Bracewell has gained a greater appreciation for the diversity and beauty of these mountains. Because of this, Kevan works hard to afford future generations the opportunity to experience this wilderness in its current, unspoiled state.<\/p>\n<p>With each passing year, however, there is greater pressure to enact tourism initiatives that will cause irreparable degradation to the environment through unregulated overuse. In the face of such a threat to the health of the wilderness, Kevan Bracewell is using the activities of his wilderness tourism company to promote stewardship of the land.<\/p>\n<p>The first major component of stewardship at Chilcotin Holidays is woven into the very structure of the company. Instead of leading high impact, destructive wilderness tourism activities, Kevan Bracewell has limited the activities to horseback riding, hiking, and self-propelled mountain biking. Through their very nature, horseback riding and hiking leave little evidence of their presence; footprints and horse-shoe prints are typically the only evidence you\u2019ll see on the trails. Mountain biking in large, unregulated numbers, can be quite destructive. This is why Chilcotin Holidays only offers self-propelled mountain biking tours that focus on a unique wilderness experience, and not a run-of-the-mill adrenaline rush. Chilcotin Holidays does not offer float-plane assisted mountain biking tours, which drop bikers off at the top of the mountains so they can race down. Plane-assisted mountain biking contributes to noise pollution and overuse, and jeopardizes the safety of other park visitors. Because the activities at Chilcotin Holidays respect the natural carrying capacity of the wilderness, Kevan Bracewell can use his guest ranch as a means to build appreciation for nature, instead of destroying it. This commitment to being part of the solution and not part of the problem is something that Kevan Bracewell adheres to in every aspect of his wilderness tourism business.<\/p>\n<p>Conservation education is also integral to the stewardship efforts of Chilcotin Holidays. Upon guests\u2019 arrival, wilderness guides and representatives from the Stewardship Foundation present an educational map orientation that explains the unique habitats of the South Chilcotin Mountains. During their actual journey through the mountains, guides and guests collect grizzly bear and mountain goat samples and record wildlife sightings on specialized forms. In addition to engaging and exciting guests about conservation efforts, this work has been highly beneficial for stewardship efforts. The continuous stream of data provided by Chilcotin Holidays has provided biologists with unique insights into the wildlife populations of the South Chilcotin Mountains and greater Bridge River Valley watershed. This wildlife data played a key role as Kevan Bracewell and conservation groups successfully lobbied for better, more sustainable land management plans.<\/p>\n<p>The Wilderness Tourism Association of BC has described wilderness tourism as nature based tourism, rural tourism, and commercial backcountry recreation. Kevan Bracewell, however, is not content to let his brand of wilderness tourism end there. For Kevan, wilderness tourism is both a privilege and a responsibility. He believes that every wilderness tourism activity should give far more to the land than it takes. And that\u2019s why wilderness tourism at Chilcotin Holidays is more than an activity; it\u2019s a living, breathing form of stewardship.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Ready to learn more about the wilderness and experience it for yourself? Join Chilcotin Holidays for a unique kind of wilderness tourism that gives more than it takes.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chilcotinholidays.com\/hut-based-horse-pack-trip\/\"><strong>Learn More Here<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Open Sans;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\">Learn more about Kevan Bracewell\u2019s work:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chilcotinholidays.com\/\"><span style=\"color: #485637;\"><span style=\"font-family: Open Sans;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><u>Chilcotin Holidays<\/u><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Open Sans;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\">,\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/wilderness.stewardship.foundation\/\"><span style=\"color: #485637;\"><span style=\"font-family: Open Sans;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><u>Wilderness Stewardship Foundation<\/u><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Open Sans;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\">,\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stewardship.foundation\/\"><span style=\"color: #485637;\"><span style=\"font-family: Open Sans;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><u>Stewardship Foundation<\/u><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Open Sans;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\">,\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.trails-to-empowerment.org\/\"><span style=\"color: #485637;\"><span style=\"font-family: Open Sans;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><u>Trails to Empowerment<\/u><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Open Sans;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\">,\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/chilcotinarkinstitute.com\/\"><span style=\"color: #485637;\"><span style=\"font-family: Open Sans;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><u>Chilcotin Ark Institute<\/u><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Open Sans;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\">,\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: #485637;\"><span style=\"font-family: Open Sans;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><u><a href=\"http:\/\/wildernesstrainingacademy.com\/\">Wilderness Training Academy<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/communitymill.ca\/\">Community Mill<\/a> <\/u><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kevan Bracewell sees stewardship and conservation as integral components of wilderness tourism. This core-belief is visible in every facet of Chilcotin Holidays &nbsp; At a glance\u2026 Kevan Bracewell\u2019s deep respect for the wilderness has impacted every facet of the wilderness tourism activities he offers at Chilcotin Holidays. The Details: From ranch stays to grizzly viewing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":15,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kevanbracewell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/292"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kevanbracewell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kevanbracewell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kevanbracewell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kevanbracewell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=292"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.kevanbracewell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/292\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":415,"href":"https:\/\/www.kevanbracewell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/292\/revisions\/415"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kevanbracewell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kevanbracewell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}