The Okanagan Forest Task Force (OFTF) is set to tackle what it says is the biggest encampment cleanup it has ever undertaken.
President Kane Blake and other members toured the site near Okanagan Falls on Sunday, Nov. 12.
㽶ƵֱThe camp is full of travel trailers, cars, motorhomes, metal, tons and tons of garbage, and even hidden underground locations,㽶Ƶֱ Blake said.
Pictures posted to the OFTF website show a second mess, believed to have been left by the same people, a few kilometres up the road.
It consists of burnt vehicles, garbage, and a cage with a sign that says 㽶Ƶֱwarning rattlesnakes.㽶Ƶֱ
It㽶Ƶֱs also believed that the presence of these camps has led to multiple fires in the bush.
㽶ƵֱThis is not the first encampment we have been to where a brush or a wildfire was started,㽶Ƶֱ Blake said. 㽶ƵֱSadly, this is the risk we take by letting these camps stay and something needs to change.㽶Ƶֱ
Blake added that residents in the area have had enough.
㽶ƵֱAfter nearly four years the mess has gotten out of hand. It㽶Ƶֱs now one of our main priorities for the spring and is going to take a lot of planning.㽶Ƶֱ
Since Sep. 2016, the OFTF has cleaned up more than 815,000 pounds of garbage from the Okanagan backcountry.
㽶ƵֱWe are sadly on track to hit over one million pounds by next summer,㽶Ƶֱ Blake said. 㽶ƵֱWithout all the members, community support, and partnered businesses like ABC Recycling and Norval rentals none of this would be possible.㽶Ƶֱ
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