Illegal encampment crops up in Chilliwack River Valley after deactivated dirt road gets unlawfully refilled
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CHILLIWACK — Chilliwack cleanup volunteer Ross Aikenhead says it’s discouraging to see an illegal encampment crop up on what was supposed to be a permanently deactivated dirt road just off Chilliwack Lake Road.
Aikenhead, who has been regularly petitioned regional and provincial authorities to take action against about the negative environmental impacts associated with backcountry camps, says a problematic encampment has been located near Borden Creek, a few kilometers past Thurston Meadows.
Back in January 2024, a provincial contractor cleaned up a homeless camp across from Thurston Meadows and deactivated the dirt road so that RVs, trailers and trucks could not access it. One of the occupants of this camp, Aikenhead believes, was responsible for the mess there and has been allegedly linked to wire theft in the Chilliwack River Valley. It’s also alleged the main person at that camp was responsible for starting two large RVs on fire, during a province-wide fire ban, so as to salvage the metal.
Image: Mike Vanden Bosch / Pattison Media / Scrap metal as pictured in the back of a pickup truck at an illegal camp just off Chilliwack Lake Road.
