The B.C. government has quietly ceded control of a large portion of a provincial park off the west coast of Vancouver Island, in response to a precedent-setting court ruling on an Indigenous land claim. Public access to parts of Nuchatlitz Park is no longer assured, after the B.C. Supreme Court declared last year that the Nuchatlaht, a First Nation with 180 members, has proved Aboriginal title to 1,140 hectares of land on the north end of Nootka Island. …The lawyer for the Nuchatlaht says it is the first time parkland has been included in a title ruling from the courts. …The title lands include 320 hectares of old-growth forest in Nuchatlitz Park. …Tamara Davidson, B.C.’s Minister of Environment and Parks, declined to comment on the Nuchatlaht case. …Jack Woodward, the lawyer who represented the Nuchatlaht, said that the courts have set a precedent establishing that Aboriginal title can supersede park protections on Crown land. [A Globe and Mail subscription is required for full story access]