'Devastating for the land': Ucluelet residents set up blockade over tourism pollution concerns

Victoria -

Is there such a thing as too much tourism? Some on Vancouver Island's west coast think so.

Several Ucluelet, B.C. community members have set up a blockade on the West Main forestry road to Kennedy Lake, saying that visitors aren't respecting the area.

"The amount of tourists and squatters that have come into the area is truly devastating for the land," said Tim Masso, who lives in the area and is a member of the Tlaoquiaht First Nation.

"The amount of pollution, for me, is so disheartening. It's quite sad," he said, adding that garbage and human waste are often left in the bush.

Masso says that some visitors have been camping along a river that salmon live in, and that he's spotted several campfires despite B.C. being under a provincewide campfire ban.

"This is a recipe for a forest fire," he said.

With COVID-19 travel restrictions in place for two summers, the west coast of Vancouver Island has become a popular tourist destination for Canadians.

"There was probably about 100 cars parked on the side of the road, and for me, I couldn't stand it anymore," Masso said Tuesday.

"Just to see the amount that my nation, the Tlaoquiaht territory, has been damaged by these tourists and the attraction to the west coast. That's what pushed me over the edge to stand up," he said.

Masso says he's aware of the appeal of the area, and understands that tourism plays a vital role in the Ucluelet and Tofino communities. But, he says infrastructure in the region needs to be expanded to accommodate its popularity.

"I truly am looking for a solution," he said. "The area we live in right now, it is so beautiful and that's why Parks Canada and Tourism Tofino have pushed to get more people here. But we don't have the infrastructure to support it."

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

Ucluelet Mayor Mayco Noel was at the blockade Tuesday and largely agreed with residents who were concerned.

"We’re into our second summer now where we have a lot of domestic tourists that are choosing to use the backcountry as their homestead," he said.

"That’s' starting to become a problem, and it's starting to be something that everybody's talking about," said the mayor. "You can just tell there's a complete lack (of respect) for our backyard."

He says improved education could help mitigate some of the environmental damage being caused by the campers.

Noel added that enforcement is difficult for the small municipality.

"On the west coast, we have limited resources. The big one is police and ambulance services," he said.

Noel says that the district only has five RCMP officers, and that it's "lucky to have two on at any time." The situation is similar for the ambulance service in the region, which makes it difficult to patrol the large backcountry.

He thinks one other solution would be to use combined funding from municipalities in the region to hire five or six trained workers to patrol the backcountry.

CAMPER CONFUSION

Earlier this week, Masso posted on social media advising campers that they had 24 hours to leave the area before he set up the blockade.

Tourists have been largely respectful of the move, according to Masso, though some still have concerns.

"First, I'd like to know if it's legal. None of us seem to know," said one camper who spoke with CTV News.

Ucluelet's mayor noted that it is legal to camp in the area for up to 14 days, though he said there are certain expectations about how the environment should be treated.

Another visitor said he was in the area because he couldn't find accommodations anywhere else in the region.

"We kind of found (this area) because it's the only free place to camp," said the traveller. "Tofino's kind of expensive and you can't even book stuff."

"We came here camping thinking it's a B.C. recreation site because that's what it says (online) and all of a sudden there's a Facebook post saying we have to leave," he said. "We don't know what's going on. I'd like something more official than that."

Masso did not say Tuesday when the blockade would be lifted.