A new effort to clean up forests is coming to the Kootenays.
The Kootenay Forest Task Force is a new organization modelled after a program in the Okanagan that removes abandoned garbage and vehicles from provincial Crown land and remote wilderness areas.
Rob Morrison, MP for Kootenay—Columbia, explained the reasoning for expanding the task force.
“Okanagan Forest Task Force has been very successful in getting millions of tons of garbage to the dump, and we’re trying to have a similar program for the Kootenays. So when you go out there, with your friends or family, and you’re on your side-by-side or four-wheeler or whatever you’re doing, whether it’s hiking, fishing, biking, you don’t have to step over all the garbage to get to where you want to go. So, that’s the goal for the forest task force to get our forests cleaned up,” said Morrison.
The group will focus mainly on rural areas outside Cranbrook, working with partners such as the provincial government, regional directors, mayors, RCMP and natural resource officers.
The program will rely heavily on volunteers with trucks, equipment and towing companies to help remove garbage, including abandoned vehicles, motorhomes and debris from old encampments.
Morrison responded to concerns about waste around unhoused encampments in the city not being included.
“The city of Cranbrook usually takes care of their own, but outside the city, that would be where this task force could go and help out. And they’re not in there for enforcement, these are more volunteers who drive trucks and backhoes and can help move stuff out, get them onto a flat deck to get them out. Then, if it’s not Crown land, we’re dealing with other departments.” said Morrison.
To kick off the initiative, a public town hall is set for May 14 at 6 p.m. at the Prestige Inn, where organizers hope to recruit volunteers.
“That’s where we’re gonna start to kick off the program to see who could be interested in volunteering, to help out. Then our next plan will be to have a fundraiser at a Save On or one of our bigger centres, to have the media there and have people come and show them what we’re trying to do and collect donations.” said Morrison.
Morrison said the program is in its early stages, with funding expected to come first from local donations and possibly later from provincial or federal sources.
“It’s just in its infancy. We need to open up a bank account, so any donations go there and we can keep track of it so that there’s accountability. I think we’re gonna get support from local people with equipment. We already have support from regional directors for garbage. For example we’ve already worked on tipping fees with regional directors. We’re looking at maybe some funding for possibly a couple reserves for RCMP constables to help out.” said Morrison.
“Then hopefully we’ll get the province and even us, federally, to contribute some money to help out to keep it going. So the funding would be coming from local sources only right now.” Morrison added.
When asked if there is a way to notify the task force about garbage, Morrison said an app will be used to report locations, allowing people to pinpoint problem areas so volunteers can respond.
“You can go to OFTF on either an Android or iPhone and you can download the app, and on that app, you can pinpoint where the garbage is. You just hit enter, it sends a message to the longitude latitude, and then the volunteers know exactly where to pick up the garbage. So when you open it up, it says report garbage and my reports, and if you hit report garbage, it just says where are you and then you submit. The Okanagan did it, and they are letting us use that app for the Kootenays.” said Morrison.
The overall goal of the Kootenay Forest Task Force is to reduce waste in forests and make outdoor spaces cleaner and safer for backcountry users.
