Mark Robichaud certainly isn’t trying to draw further attention to the well-used Tenquille Lake Recreation Site. But it has become clear the Pemberton Wildlife Association (PWA), which has taken on the task of implementing a visitor-use management strategy created by several stakeholders, has to get the word out: you now need a reservation for both the Tenquille cabin and tent sites.
“Our operator [who stayed onsite through the summer] said about half of the people that were coming up didn’t have reservations,” said Robichaud, who is the Tenquille-Owl Lakes Recreation Area (TOLRA) trails coordinator. “Our role in it is we’ve committed to managing the bookings and the trail maintenance and upkeep. The word is getting out there slowly.”
In addition, the group is trying to spread the word that the Birkenhead access to the Tenquille area is officially closed—with a gate or barriers to be installed in the near future.
“That is closed specifically for grizzly bear habitat and grizzly bears need to be left alone,” Robichaud said. “There’s a huge huckleberry patch there. It’s important to grizzly bears and the Lil’wat Nation. We’d encourage everybody to forget that access exists.”
Other changes now in effect, after the implementation of the strategy—the result of multiple years of work between the provincial Ministry of Forests, Lil’wat Nation, N’Quatqua and community groups like the PWA—include: no unauthorized helicopter or horse access; no recreational motorized vehicles; no dogs at the rec site or on the trails leading to the lake; no mountain biking within the recreation site or on the trails to the lake or the Mount Barbour trail; and camping only in designated areas.
The strategy also aims to guide future recreation management to protect the Nations’ cultural resources and opportunities, wildlife habitat and sensitive species.
“It is one of the places that was used by the Lil’wat for generations and it has recorded presence there with the pictographs and the trails,” Lil’wat Chief Dean Nelson told Pique in February. “It is a part of the route that our people took throughout the territory.”
Meanwhile, Robichaud said he understands that long-term locals might not love the changes, but facing the reality of a more crowded backcountry, there’s no choice but to adapt.
In May 2021, when the Tenquille cabin was closed due to COVID-19, a group of people broke in, causing damage in the process, and burned construction materials stored under the cabin as a campfire.
“I think the long-term Pemby locals who did a couple trips up there every year and likely had the place to themselves, that’s gone. That’s 2022,” Robichaud said.
“We’re adapting to the times, and [as] anybody who spends any time at any of the unregistered or un-caretaken cabins in the Duffey understands, it’s a matter of time before they get burned down. There are a number of them I won’t go to anymore. They’re overused and abused.”
After the PWA sorted through the cabin and campsite booking software at the end of June, it officially launched the new reservation system. While it was a quiet launch this year, going forward, people will be sent away if they don’t have a reservation.
“Once the signage goes up and we do a few more public service announcements, I think we’ll probably have to have a firmer handle on it,” Robichaud added. “If it’s overbooked, sending people back home or having a more secure way to ensure payment.”
PWA, meanwhile, will not maintain the road in, so backcountry users should be aware of the challenging access.
In the end, the group is hopeful the changes will help ensure the longevity of the area.
“I think having the operator there and eyes on the site and having the cabin and tent sites … gives the perception people are watching and taking care of it,” Robichaud said.
To book a spot, or for more information, visit pembertonwildlifeassociation.com/services/tenquille-lake-cabin.
