Letter: Step up patrols for illegal camping

While walking our dog near the Stawamus River on Saturday, my partner and five-year-old son came across some people camping illegally. This is a very common event. Slightly less common was that they were having sex at the time.

I’d like to highlight that in the years since we moved to Valleycliffe, the number of illegal campers has increased. Every weekend, we find illegal and badly built campfires, cigarette butts, garbage, graffiti, condoms, toilet paper and feces in the areas near our house.

Aside from unsightly and unsanitary, the situation is dangerous as we head into another exceptional fire season.

I know that several businesses in Squamish sell firewood during fire bans, and others tell visitors that they can camp for free if they drive up the local logging roads.

I’d like to feel the that community was pulling together to address this problem. Local businesses should not encourage camping within the district boundaries, nor should they sell firewood during a ban. Squamish bylaw officers and police should step up patrols, and at the very least, there should be “no camping” signs placed near sites where people camp.

Michael Coyle
Squamish