The third annual grasslands clean up took place April 8. After volunteers helped clear away garbage in the area, Naturalist club vice president, Frank Ritcey, led a hike in the area.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED: FRANK RITCEY
April 10, 2018 - 4:00 PM
KAMLOOPS - More than 150 volunteers showed up to the third annual Grasslands Cleanup at the Dewdrop Trail to remove roughly 5,000 pounds of garbage from the area - a significant improvement from previous years, says Naturalist club vice-president, Frank Ritcey.
“We hauled out a lot of garbage, around 5,000 pounds which is a lot less from in the past,” Ritcey says.
Several groups and volunteers from around the community showed up to help clean up the protected grasslands area. The Dewdrop trail is part of the Lac du Bois Grasslands protected area just north of Kamloops.
“We had huge support from all throughout the community,” Ritcey says.
The City of Kamloops provided a dump truck to haul garbage loads from the area. Ritcey says he will continue to work with B.C. Conservation Officer Service to improve signage in the area and block off the areas people use as roads. He adds that the most important thing is people need to report anyone who is dumping illegally in the area.
“Obviously some people aren’t getting the message yet, grasslands are rare in B.C and when we do have an area that is undisturbed it’s really important we protect it,” he says, adding that most grasslands in B.C have been developed.
Ritcey advises anyone who sees anything suspicious in the area to call to 1-877-952-727, a 24-hour line to report what they see.
“The more people that are hit in the pocket book, the fewer people (will go) out and doing the wrong thing,” he says. “It’ll be nice to get to a point where we don’t have to do a clean-up."
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