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Volunteers clean up unauthorized gun range
In response to complaints from residents in the Meadowbrook and Woods Corner areas about an unauthorized gun range near the Cherry Creek Rest Area, approximately 12 kilometres east of Kimberley, the Meadowbrook Community Association (MCA) met with Columbia River-Revelstoke MLA Doug Clovechok, RDEK Electoral Area E Director Jane Walter, RCMP Sergeant Steve Woodcox, Conservation Officer Sergeant Denny Chretien, and Natural Resource Officer Supervisor Kevin Vaters.
At the meeting at the site on June 28, the parties agreed to these actions:
- the MCA will organize volunteers to clean up this and other similar sites;
- the MCA will post signage encouraging legal and responsible shared recreational use;
- the RCMP and the Conservation Officer Service will step up patrols;
- the MCA will initiate an awareness campaign to inform the public about the existing situation and the actions being taken in response.
On July 8, a group of 14 volunteers cleaned up the site. Volunteers also cleaned up another nearby area and a party site north of Cherry Creek Falls Park.
In all, five truck loads and one trailer load were hauled to the appropriate Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) facility. Because the material was collected by volunteers from Crown land, the RDEK waived the usual tipping fees.
President Bob Johnstone said that these actions are in in accordance with the MCA’s purpose, “To preserve and enhance the Meadowbrook and Woods Corner areas for residents and other recreational users.”
Johnstone indicated the MCA will continue to promote recreational use that conforms to its policy on recreation, “To support and foster legal, ethical and responsible recreational uses that preserve and enhance the areas: rich cultural history that extends back 10,000 years; sensitive and vulnerable species and ecosystems; contribution to our local food supply; and natural beauty and serenity.”
He indicated that the MCA hopes to collaborate with others in Electoral Area E and Kimberley to increase public awareness of the consequences of recreational uses that are not consistent with this philosophy.
Photos submitted by Meadowbrook Community Association
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