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Crater Mountain grasslands abused by ATV traffic

Irresponsible use of ATV's damaging the Ashnola

To the Editor:

The grasslands of Crater Mountain are in peril.  It has become all too apparent in recent times that the use of ATV’s past road closure areas on Crater Mountain have become routine.  Several of our members have identified ATV’s past road closures and have spoken to these people and informed them of the closures.  Most admit to knowing about the closures and seeing the signs, but they proceed past them anyway.

In a recent day no less than 10 ATV’s were spoken to about the restriction to recreational use of vehicles past certain points.  The grasslands and wildlife cannot continue to see this kind of abuse.

Crater Mountain is a sensitive area with grasslands and wildlife.  Sheep (ewes) were observed directly above where some people drove their ATV into a snow bank and did a little “playing”.  These animals are sensitive to vehicles and should not be subject to this kind of harassment.  These are not all “tourists”.  There have been local people who have openly stated that they go past the closures on a weekly basis.

We would like to inform/remind people that these closures are important to the flora and fauna of the area and respect must be given to the habitat.  PLEASE do not drive past identified road closures on Crater Mountain.

The known infractions have been reported to the Conservation Office, and we suspect that patrols will be increased in this area.  We say we are not in favor of a National Park as we can manage the area ourselves – lets prove it!

Thank you, Paul McLean

 

Access Chair  Keremeos-Cawston Sportsman Assoc.