An Okanagan non-profit organization says it recently has cleared more than 600 kilograms of garbage out of Central Okanagan’s backcountry.
The cleanup happened after the Okanagan Forest Task Force found an abandoned camp roughly three kilometres up Beaver Lake Road, near Kelowna.
“It was filled with garbage. Everything from old t-shirts, to DVDs, basically everything they owned was left there,” said Kane Blake, Okanagan Forest Task Force’s founder.
The camp, which was discovered by the group a few weeks previously, was occupied by a man and a woman in their early 30s, according to Blake.
“We were promised everything under the moon. That they would clean up the mess before we came back,” Blake said.
However, when the task force returned roughly two weeks later, not only had the mess grown, the two occupants were nowhere to be found.
RCMP accompanied the task force on the return, and Blake says some identification was found in the camp and was handed over to the police.
“We have a really close relationship with the RCMP. They were definitely happy we were there to clean up,” said Blake.
RCMP did confirm it has opened an investigation into the matter.
“Lake Country RCMP are investigating after a report was made of a large amount of personal belongings and garbage left on Beaver Lake Road between the cattle guards,” said Cpl. Jocelyn Noseworthy.
“RCMP are working to determine who is responsible for the abandoned property. A local group has cleaned the site up.”