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Image Credit: Contributed by Okanagan Forest Task Force
April 21, 2020 - 8:00 AM
A Conservation Officer is frustrated by the drastic spike he’s seen in illegal dumping of trash in Okanagan wildlands.
“Dumping has been horrific this year,” said Terry Myroniuk, a Kelowna Conservation Officer.
Typically, he said if there are higher fees at landfills, there is a correlation with more illegal dumping on Crown land, but since more people are in the bush during the COVID-19 pandemic, he believes there’s a correlation with more discarded trash in the bush.
“There will be more people at home so there’s more time to clean up garbage and (dump it,)” he said.
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Postill Lake Road and Beaver Lake Road, as well as any public bush areas that are in lower elevations, have been really hit, he said, adding that the conservation service is hoping to do more illegal dumping enforcement.
“It’s disheartening in the wilderness when you see dumped couches and garbage... It upsets me and I’m sure it upsets others as well,” he said. “It’s totally inexcusable too."
It's not just garbage. Late last week, he investigated an incident where a coyote and a rooster carcass were strung up near Spion Kop in Lake Country but said there was no indication that the coyote was shot out of season, it just wasn’t harvested. The rooster was just a random incident and he isn’t sure if the two discarded carcasses were related, he said.
Have you noticed an increase in illegal dumping? Let us know in the comments below.
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