At least three campsites in B.C. were trashed over the May long weekend, including one where wild animals were killed, and another where the garbage cleanup continues.
B.C. Conservation and RCMP are involved in tracking down partiers who left a path of destruction at Headwaters Lake No. 1 near Peachland. Someone shot a beaver and "did a very amateur job of skinning it," conservation officer Sgt. Jim Beck told The Province. Songbirds were also shot and left behind.
Killing wild animals is an offence under the Wildlife Act, and carries a fine.
West Kelowna RCMP are investigating because a gate to a dam suffered significant damage.
One witness said the group numbered about 40 people, ranging in age from teens to early 30s, reported Castanet. Some were seen shooting guns out their truck windows and throwing beer cans. They also left a lot of garbage behind.
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B.C. Campsites Trashed, May 2014
At a campground in Harrison Lake, photos posted to Facebook show abandoned tents, camping gear and empty bottles littering the site. The garbage was left by a group of 300 high school students, mainly from Maple Ridge, reported Global.
Allison Marshall, who took the photos, said she was shocked by the mess. "It was absolutely disgusting," she told Global.
Members of the Four Wheel Drive Association of B.C., which posted the images, are organizing a cleanup.
The group has a strict code of conduct, Mat Irvine explained to The Province: “Take out more than you bring in, don’t leave anything behind, don’t blaze new trails, don’t go fording through salmon streams that hurt everybody."
And Alberta campers are being partly blamed for trashing a campsite on Lake Koocanusa in the East Kootenay region.
Empty beer cans, human waste, toilet paper, camping gear and other garbage turned the popular camping spot into a "landfill," according to one official. Some trees were also cut down.