FILE PHOTO

(LEVI LANDRY / iNFOnews.ca)

Kamloops City staff are exploring ways to clear out overgrown riverbanks in an effort to address some of the most entrenched camps, but not with the blessing of federal regulators.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) said it has worked with the city several times over the years, but the most recent proposal was more sweeping than previous efforts and raised "concerns" for fish habitat.

"During the most recent meeting with DFO, the City expressed the desire to undertake large-scale vegetation removals throughout the City boundaries," a written statement from a regulator spokesperson read.

Kamloops fire chief and protective services director Ken Uzeloc said his staff are looking to clear out overgrown brush on banks throughout much of the city to address fire risk and make it more difficult for camps to hide for extended periods of time.

READ MORE: DFO concerns about impacts on fish habitat delay Kamloops riverbank cleanups

DFO said it has spoken with the city multiple times in the past few years regarding encampments and dike maintenance, but it insisted maintaining vegetation along the banks is important for fish.

"Riparian vegetation within the Thompson River system represents vitally important habitat for both resident fish populations and migrating species of declining salmon stocks," the written statement read. "The riparian habitat provides summer shade, rearing habitat, and predatory refuge for out-migrating juvenile salmonids during higher water levels. The aquatic environment adjacent to the riparian habitat is typically teeming with juvenile salmonids during seasonally high waters along the North and South Thompson near Kamloops."

DFO did not comment when asked about whether it has any concern about digging or brush thinning for encampments, or potential litter, along Kamloops riverbanks.

The City has for years allowed camps along riverbanks when adequate shelter space isn't available. Bylaw said camps should be taken down each morning, a policy that isn't actively policed.

"Right now the policy says they can temporarily shelter at night in certain areas on the riverbanks. They're not allowed to become entrenched, they're not allowed to accumulate garbage and they have to be taken down during the day," Uzeloc said. "So that's why in the last couple of months you've seen (bylaw officers) going out and cleaning up camps and moving people along because they have built them into kind of entrenched camps, almost like they're trying to make them permanent. That's not allowed."

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While the policy prevents a single large tent city from developing, it means the city has small camps spread from Valleyview to Mission Flats and to the Halston Bridge, with several in between.

Firefighters have responded to many fires in camps throughout the city, usually in the winter months. Often the fires are doused before they can spread and, until January, there had been no deaths reported in them.

The policy also has the impact of alienating residents from public beaches, like one along Schubert Drive that had frequently been used for encampments until resident Richard Wiberg cleaned the beach and installed his own signage.

Whether Wiberg's signs, and now a hand-built staircase, will remain is yet to be seen as the City bylaw department nearly had the signs removed last week.

DFO continues to work with City staff in getting proper approvals to clear out the vegetation as proposed.

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