The local police is asking people to contact them or the Squamish bylaw office if they have any concerns related to illegal camping in town.
On Wednesday, March 28th, Squamish RCMP received a report from a Squamish resident of a male who appeared to be camping illegally in Rose Park located on Loggers Lane.
Upon arrival, police located a male who had a tent set up and was sleeping at the location. The male was requested to leave as camping was not allowed in that location.
As the weather warms and the tourist season hits high gear illegal camping reports tend to rise, police say. If you have any concerns or questions regarding illegal camping in Squamish please contact the Squamish Bylaw or the Squamish RCMP.
There have been discussions on the social media recently among Valleycliffe residents about illegal camping around the Stawamus River area.
In January, a local trail group called upon land managers from the Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource operations to act promptly to ensure illegal camping and dumping sites are thoroughly removed and remediated.
Fourteen volunteers and six district employees worked throughout December and January to pick up and remove four dump truck loads of debris from an abandoned, illegal encampment distributed along the floodplain of the Mamquam River.
John Harvey, who operates the Mamquam River Campground, said the increase in housing prices has had a role to play in increase in illegal camping.
“I’ve long thought that our society has yet to pay the social consequence of unrealistic property prices. Home owners sell for more and more money and continue the cycle of higher rents. If Squamish already has 30 – 40 van campers (in mid-winter), think of what it will look like in a decade. Homelessness isn’t far away,” he said.
David Lassmann says
Illegal dumping has been a problem in Squamish from the beginning. The so-called illegal camping is also a long-standing practice. We have seen a lot of this in the Wildlife Management Area of the Squamish River estuary. The worst part of it is the garbage that is generally left behind when the sites are abandoned.
Unfortunately poverty in Canada (and elsewhere) leaves many people with no better option than to live as homeless people, which means that they have to make a “home” wherever they can. This is nothing new and probably goes all the way back to the dawn of civilization. The Christian Bible makes references to the poor including Deuteronomy 15:11, “For the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.’ “