The Nicola Valley Fish and Game Club says it has “overwhelming evidence” showing the province has blocked off Corbett Lake from the public.

Club director Rick McGowan says the province has enabled private companies to use the lake, located just south of Merritt adjacent to the Okanagan Connector, exclusively.

The lawsuits names the provincial government, Corbett Lake Lodge and the Douglas Lake Cattle Company as plaintiffs.

“The B.C. government purchased a right-of-way for the Corbett Lake Lodge for price of $1 dollar. And in return, they built the berm on the adjoining property – which is a public property, (Ministry of Transportation’s) right-of-way – they built a berm at a $200,000 or $300,000-dollar cost to the taxpayer to block the public from going to a public boat launch that (previously) existed,” McGowan says.

“It goes on and on, there’s a lot of complexity to it. But bottom line is they intentionally went along with blocking public access to benefit a private entrepreneur and fishing resort.

“It’s kind of like human nature, people will take a public lake for their own private use. That’s a little bit understandable. But for the B.C. government to do nothing, absolutely nothing, and actually facilitate this process happening, it’s kind of absurd.”

McGowan says there are more than 30 public lakes landlocked in the Nicola Valley and more than 1,000 in B.C.