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Outdoorsmen launch wilderness cleanup campaign

Steven Scott and Jonathan Beaudoin were hiking near Bear Creek Reservoir in Jordan River when they came across a graveyard of discarded goods: fridges, car parts, dry wall, spare tires.
Garbage Truck.jpg
Steven Scott and Jonathan Beaudoin removed a load of junk from the Bear Creek Reservoir area near Jordan River in July.

Steven Scott and Jonathan Beaudoin were hiking near Bear Creek Reservoir in Jordan River when they came across a graveyard of discarded goods: fridges, car parts, dry wall, spare tires.

“We were just disgusted with all the crap that was out there,” said Scott, who moved to the Island from Ontario in July to work at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt. “It just looked like people had driven their trucks out there, opened their door and shovelled stuff out.”

The two returned to the area and filled a utility trailer with some of the junk, but they barely made a dent.

Now they have teamed up with Fredy Boese, a Sidney businessman, to organize a massive cleanup of the area on Saturday, Sept. 5.

All three are avid outdoorsmen who love to fish, camp and hunt and say no forest deserves to be turned into a landfill.

“I think it’s sad that people simply don’t appreciate where in the world we live,” Boese said. “I think anybody who enjoys the outdoors probably feels the same.”

Illegal dumping near the Bear Creek Reservoir made headlines last year when a Sooke resident tracked down the man who smashed a Ford Thunderbird and left it in the woods.

The owner of the vehicle left registration papers and a resumé with his name and address in the car — information the Sooke resident passed to RCMP. Mounties tracked down the car’s owner, who towed it out of the woods and apologized.

Boese said he hopes the cleanup will set an example to deter future dumpers.

“You’ll always have people who will dump, unfortunately … but we want to educate people,” he said.

The businessman has secured donations from Cap-It Genuine Truckware, Sooke Disposal, Triangle RV and Island Outfitters to ensure the group has enough equipment to haul out the refuse. Far Out Pizza in Jordan River is donating lunch for volunteers who help with the cleanup.

Boese hopes to see about 50 people come out to help. “I think we’re going to fill a 40-foot Dumpster.”

 

WANT TO LEND A HAND?

Anyone who would like to help with the cleanup effort is asked to meet Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Highway 14 junction near Bear Creek Reservoir Road (Forebay Road). For more information, send an email to fredy@shaw.ca.

kderosa@timescolonist.com