Image: Submitted, used with permission / Another unsightly homeless camp in the Chilliwack River Valley has been demolished, dropping the number of homeless encampments on Crown land in the pristine backcountry east of Chilliwack. This demolition happened Thursday (Feb. 15) courtesy of Wayne Furness, who used a Kubota excavator to clean up the mess.
By Mike Vanden Bosch
Homeless camps

Another homeless camp demolished in the Chilliwack River Valley

Feb 15, 2024 | 11:11 AM

CHILLIWACK — Another unsightly homeless camp has been demolished and removed in the Chilliwack River Valley, dropping the number of homeless encampments on Crown land in the pristine backcountry east of Chilliwack.

Chilliwack resident Ross Aikenhead says an abandoned trailer located on the pathway leading to Chipmunk Caves just north of Chilliwack Lake Road was dismantled Thursday (Feb. 15) by contractor Wayne Furness of F.H. Forestry Ltd.

The abandoned trailer has been vandalized and was recently parked at a homeless camp just south of Chilliwack Lake Road, near Thurston Meadows. This specific encampment near Thurston Meadows has since been completely dismantled and all occupants and their belongings have been removed with the help of Furness, who has utilized his Kubota excavator to clean that camp and an abandoned homeless campside east of Riverside Campground, in January 2024.

Image: Mike Vanden Bosch / Pattison Media / A homeless camp near Thurston Meadows along the Chilliwack Lake Road corridor was demolished in mid-January 2024.
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Furness has previously said that a lack of enforcement by conservation officers, coupled with a lack of infrastructure, like pit toilets for example, is partly responsible for camps like this. He estimated the homeless camp near Thurston Meadows had been in place for at least 10 years, possibly longer.

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Aikenhead reports there are now six homeless camps east of the Tamihi bridge, excluding encampments on Soowahlie First Nation. These six homeless camps are all occupied, however, meaning they won’t normally get addressed until the occupants leave and abandon it.

by Mike Vanden Bosch

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