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Sustainability & Ethical Tourism

Environmental & Community Initiatives

From our humble beginnings, donations to local charities and environmental projects, Wells Gray Tours actively gives back to the communities they serve. The company was founded in 1972 by Roland Neave who teamed up with an environmental organization to run bus tours to Wells Gray Park, to publicize and protest BC Hydro’s construction of 7 dams within the park. The project was cancelled by BC Hydro at the end of 1972, but Roland had so much fun organizing the tours that he carried on and expanded the service into a year-round business that now offers tours to all seven continents. Wells Gray Tours was created from Roland’s love of nature, passion for exploring, and his commitment to giving back and protecting the environment. This love, passion and commitment remain true to this day. Roland, his family, and Wells Gray Tours have been giving back to the environment and the communities they serve and travel to ever since. 

Here are a few of the ways Wells Gray tours is giving back:

A Portion For The Planet

In 2023 Wells Gray Tours initiated “A Portion for the Planet,” allocating $50,000 annually to support environmental projects in communities where they operate offices. This donation operates on a rotational basis between the communities. Kamloops received the first donation in 2023, which went to West Coast Environmental Law to support 2 projects near Kamloops: 1) protecting Ashcroft Slough, and 2) reducing water pollution from the old Ajax Mine pits. 

This year, in 2024, the Kelowna office has chosen to donate to the BC Parks Foundation. This generous contribution will support the acquisition of 28 acres on Okanagan Lake and the expansion of Okanagan Lake Provincial Park.

PHOTO
Seated: Roland and Anne Neave; standing (L-R) Terri Lynn Day, Pam Stewart, Shelby Lindley (WCEL), Stephanie Dilling, Danny Kulkarni, Fraser Neave

Wells Gray Park

We still stay true to our roots and take a tour to Wells Gray Park every summer (yes, Roland still leads those tours every year!) and give back to Wells Gray Park where we can.

In the spring of 2023, Roland published the 7th Edition of, Exploring Wells Gray Park. It’s over 400 colour pages of text and photos about the Park’s roads, trails, history, geology, and stories. All proceeds from book sales are being donated back to the Wells Gray Park for a variety of projects. You can purchase a copy at most bookstores and outdoor shops, as well as at our offices.

Anne and Roland have also personally funded the summer 2023 naturalist program in Wells Gray Park. The trail crew which spent four months repairing and maintaining over 100 km of park trails and the new stairway at Moul Falls, all accomplished through donations to the BC Parks Foundation.

Local Communities

Giving back close to home is important to Wells Gray Tours and each of our five offices has a budget to support local charities. In 2023, Wells Gray Tours has donated to:

  • Kamloops Food Bank – Starfish Backpacks Program
  • Project Literacy Central Okanagan Society
  • Kelowna Professional Firefighters Association – Central Okanagan Fire Relief
  • Allan Brooks Nature Centre in Vernon
  • CFAX Santas Anonymous in Victoria
  • CFAX Santas Anonymous in Victoria, and the Greater Victoria Green Team
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