Some In Area Are NOT Good Campers

Thursday, November 22, 2007 03:58 AM

Litter and an ash pile left behind by irresponsible campers

Irresponsible campers are being blamed for recent problems at some of the 85 recreation sites in the Prince George-Mackenzie area.

Provincial officials are asking all campers to be more responsible and respect the environment by keeping the sites in an unspoiled condition.

Recreation officers with the Ministry of Tourism, Sport and the Arts take the lead in maintaining these popular sites and are increasingly finding sites in poor condition following use by campers.

Examples include garbage left strewn about and campfires left unattended. There are also complaints of people setting up semi-permanent living accommodations and creating excessive noise, ignoring site rules.

Everyone who uses these sites must follow a number of rules, including:

limiting stays to no more than 14 days and obtaining prior approval for commercial or group use of a site;
collecting litter, hauling away your garbage and do not empty holding tanks.
keeping campfires small and extinguish them before you leave.
respecting the peace and quiet of others by keeping noise to a minimum.
not using firearms, bows, crossbows, or traps in or near sites.

MTSA staff, along with the RCMP, conservation officers and BC Forest Service, conduct periodic site visits to ensure a safe, high quality and family oriented camping experience. Sites with repeat problems are being targeted for extra attention.

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Posted on Thursday, November 22, 2007 03:58 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: Chadermando on November 22 2007 6:43 AM

Maybe the province could make a TV cartoon commercial series about the ignorant camper and air it on TV every spring targeted for the ignorant people. Kind of like Smokie the Bear, but maybe with clean friendly animals being disturbed by the unruly mean animals that have no manors. It could be a funny parody that we could all enjoy and that uses the most powerful motivator available to stop these kinds of crimes.

In the meantime lots of garbage cans that are serviced often, signage informing people of proper campground usage edicite, as well as warning signs of potential fines would all go a long way IMO.

Posted by: metalman on November 22 2007 7:50 AM

The photo is an obvious example of the aftermath from a drinking party, probably attended by a fairly large group of younger people. They may even have been campers. The issue here is not to prevent these folks from congregating, but to somehow get them to A) not make a mess
B)keep the noise down
C)take all their trash out with them
Chader, you are correct in pointing out that we need more garbage cans, because some of these partiers will use them, if they are nearby, and that would help.
I don't understand where the mentality comes from to leave a huge smoking pile of rubble, broken glass, diapers laying around for others to clean up. Do these persons have yards that are in the same condition? I suppose more enforcement is the only solution, now they need larger budgets, on and on. How about teaching civic responsibility and respect for others to your children? That, in my humble opinion is the best solution.
metalman.

Posted by: Andyfreeze on November 22 2007 7:57 AM

This was never as much of an issue as it is now before the province started to privatize the Provincial campgrounds.
Some campground contractors are good if they look after it themselves,but most are useless.
They get the contract and then put a couple of kids in there to run it for minimum wage.
Some have 2 or 3 campgrounds to manage as well.
That's too many to look after properly.
That is just plain greed!
What does a kid do with a bunch of rowdy party animals?.. and there are more and more of them getting into these parks!
We saw more rowdy people in the parks last summer than ever before, and also noticed they are not being maintained to the standard they used to be.
The government needs to get on the ball with this issue instead of mouthing off at people,, because they have devastated our provincial park system!

Posted by: northman on November 22 2007 8:44 AM

When the forest service used to look after the rec sites everything was clean and looked after due to the large amount of staff. A forest officer could do routine checks at all the sites while conducting daily buiness where the ministry of tourisim is drasticly short of man power and authority to look after these sites. A forest officer had the authority to write up tickets for wrong doings such as careless fire use and littering. There is no doubt that irresponible campers are the problem but the govt also has to take some of the responsibility because they need to hold these people accountable for their actions. I think this problem will only get worse.

Posted by: Andyfreeze on November 22 2007 9:05 AM

Right on northman!
I could not agree more, and I camp a lot.
Now however,many campgrounds are a mess and overgrown, and just not worth going to anymore.
Sad but true.
Maybe we need to do a list on here which ones are ok and which ones are not.
The bad PR might tune some of the contractors up!

Posted by: Howrd_B_Stern on November 22 2007 9:11 AM

That really sucks when people leave a mess anywhere, but particularly in the bush where the job to clean it up is amplified by such factors as distance from a transfer station, etc.

I know that every morning I take my pooch for a walk and along with his poop bag, I bring an extra garbage bag to clean up. Some days it seems ridiculous because I get 5 minutes into a 55 minute walk and the garbage bag is full. I Just have a hard time undestanding how people can simply throw a bag full of garbage (usually fast food) out their window with no concern for the environment or the fact that it may be someone's driveway?

Even as a child in the 70's my parents would not litter nor allow us kids to do it. One time I threw my pop can out the window and my dad stopped the car, backed up and made me find my can. He then proceeded to drive on the shoulder for one mile while I picked up trash in the ditch. Ironically, I made 50 cents in cans and bottles, and learned a valuable lesson.

By the way, a big thank you to Walmart for leaving empty trash cans out front so I can deposit my garbage and poop bags each morning.

Posted by: r&b342 on November 22 2007 9:24 AM

We use the forestry campsites a lot from April to October. We love the wilderness camping. On the whole most campers are responsible, and clean up after themselves.We also tend to use campsites that are an hour or more from PG.,which is usually too far for the partying teenagers.
We find that the first few times out we spend a lot of time cleaning up campsites that were left messy by the hunters of the previous season. If everyone did their part we could all enjoy the great outdoors and the camping opportunities that abound in this region.

Posted by: Chester on November 22 2007 5:10 PM

Finding a trash can to put our garbage into is another issue. I too, try to pick up garbage on my way to work every day and am very discouraged to not find anywhere in 10 blocks to put the garbage I have picked up. Most commercial dumpsters seem to also have padlocks on them to keep out the street folks. So, the solution in my opinion is to fine people who litter.

Ever try and get someone who has thrown garbage out their car window to stop and pick it up. You put your life in your hands to dare question most of these litterbugs. Chester

Posted by: steeliepete on November 22 2007 9:25 PM

We need to designate some provincial camp grounds as "family only" with rigid restrictions on alcohol, music, and quiet time between certain hours. There'd have to be some thought put into how it would be set up and enforced but it would discourage party types and the average morons from staying there. The RCMP should play a role in patroling big camp grounds like Whiskers Point, Bear Lake, Beaumont, etc. They drive right by those camp grounds and they rarely if ever patrol the grounds themselves.

I generally stay at forest service sites that are off the beaten path for the most part. My wife and I stayed at a beautiful little lake filled with trout and no one else was there for three days. It was fabulous privacy and fishing.

Posted by: steeliepete on November 22 2007 9:29 PM

Just an addition quick comment. It's useful to have a video/digital camera when you're in campsites. If you're so unlucky to park next to people who are behaving inappropriately or unlawfully get it on tape and report it. Make sure you also tape license plate numbers and other identifying characteristics.

Posted by: Andyfreeze on November 23 2007 7:03 AM

Damn good idea steeliepete!

Posted by: metalman on November 23 2007 9:14 AM

I used to camp a lot too, and favoured those MOF campsites. The last time I camped was at Tacheeda, and we had to spend a half hour (four of us) cleaning up the spot we wanted plus the ones on each side of ours. We hauled all of that garbage out with us (got about three bucks for the empties though!) That was about nine years ago. There was no toilet paper in the outhouses, there were no trash barrels, and there was lots of garbage laying around. I used to see the same problem at Crystal lake. I do not know the solution either, but patrols and enforcement seems like a good start.
metalman.

Posted by: Andyfreeze on November 23 2007 3:25 PM

Further to the "steeliepete" comment,I recently saw a gang of our first nations people camped out up towards the Nation Lakes this fall,and when they left it was like a war zone with garbage,beer cans, and human waste everywhere!
Great enviromentalists!
I sure wish I had a camera with me, or had thought write down a couple of licence plate numbers, but they were already gone!