
The area director in Pritchard says residents are concerned about squatters along the South Thompson River.
Mel Rothenburger says it’s been more noticeable this year, with people staying long periods of time in campers or trailers.
“The RCMP have been called a number of times and they visit, and they go away but people stay. So if that can be thrown into any discussion that we’re going to have for that kind of situation, of people simply parking and making use of a campsite when they shouldn’t be there and should be long gone, that would be worthwhile.”
Ron Storie, director of community services with the TNRD, says the regional district can’t ask people to leave.
“We’ve had this ongoing issue be confused with provincial parks, and unfortunately that is a Crown land area out there. And the province, when we looked at researching that and taking it over, that was one of the big issues that we had. So from a Crown land squatting issue, that’s something that we see constantly and get called on constantly. But it’s not our issue.”
A spokesperson with the Ministry of Forests says that Natural Resource Officers have been called a number of times to Pritchard recently, because of squatters.
“Some of these individuals are fishing for Chinook and they move along when the fish do,” the spokesperson says.
It’s unclear if anyone has been punished for squatting there.