Mon, May 19, 2008 Calgary SunTearing up the mud in four-wheel drives without brakes and driving while intoxicated in McLean Creek are among the worrying offences that led police to lay more than 400 charges in southern Alberta campgrounds over the long weekend.
Rowdy McLean Creek campers turned the recreational area southwest of Calgary into a “bush party,” marring the long weekend for the majority of well-behaved outdoor enthusiasts, said RCMP Sgt. Patrick Webb.
“The vast majority of people were pretty good,” Webb said about the estimated 5,000 campers who flocked to McLean Creek for the balmy Victoria Day long weekend.
“But there is a significant number that are doing as they’ve done in previous years, and that is treat it as a place where you can do anything and anything goes.”
Mounties from Cochrane and Turner Valley detachments were kept busy trying to curb the mayhem in McLean Creek, laying a wide array of charges.
“It is essentially a small town that is descending onto this area and a large number of them are intent on partying,” said Webb.
“It is just a never-ending job to do the enforcement, to try and keep a lid on the activities of some of the rowdy ones.”
Meanwhile, Sundre, Crowsnest Pass and Kananaskis detachments, also responsible for enforcing the law at popular camping spots, laid fewer charges this May long weekend compared to previous years.
“The number of people appeared to be somewhat similar, but by far the amount of enforcement that had to be done was way down,” said Webb.
“But you start counting McLean Creek and the numbers are up.”
The locks on a gate leading to private land in McLean Creek were broken six times over the long weekend, with thousands sneaking in to set up camp and tear up a “pristine grassy meadow” with off-road vehicles until it was a “mud hole,” said Webb.
Campers in McLean Creek also dumped blackened vehicles, and mounds of beer cans and food refuse in the bush, the province’s area manager Rick Blackwood said Sunday.
Blackwood said the staggering volume of garbage is as concerning as last Victoria Day long weekend, when it took officials and community groups several weeks to pull 20 pick-up loads of trash from the McLean Creek area.
Campers trash long weekendCops report alcohol offences, irresponsible off-roading and garbage dumping
By TARINA WHITE, SUN MEDIA
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Burned out cars and mounds of trash from campers are piling up again this May long weekend, leading some to suggest there could be further crackdowns on provincial recreation areas.
Recreationalists in McLean Creek, south of Kananaskis, have wreaked the worst havoc so far this May long weekend, said the province's area manager Rick Blackwood.
The popular off-roading destination is playing host to as many as 5,000 campers, who have dumped blackened vehicles, beer cans and food refuse in the bush, he said.
"We're starting to see a lot of garbage issues, particularly in McLean Creek and the Castle area down south," said Blackwood.
"Just an enormous amount of garbage and debris."
Last Victoria Day long weekend it took officials and community groups several weeks to pull 20 pick-up loads of trash from the McLean Creek area.
It was also environmentally scarred by off-roaders, who plowed through creek beds and tore up delicate wetlands.
"I don't know if ... McLean Creek was much better than last year," said Blackwood.
After last year's rowdy revelling and destruction in Willow Creek, located 120 km southwest of Calgary, Sustainable Resource Minister Ted Morton restricted campers and off-road enthusiasts in the area.
Blackwood said the province's area managers will brief Morton about this year's long weekend destruction in McLean Creek.
The discussion could potentially lead to a further crackdown. but Blackwood said it's premature to say whether new rules would be introduced.
"We'll chart a course of action after we have that debrief," he said. "Last year, when the minister saw a lot of things he didn't like in Willow Creek, he quickly acted to invoke some new rules."
Those rules in Willow Creek included restricting campers to designated campground areas and to a maximum 14-day stay.
A weight limit was also imposed to restrict off-road vehicles that weigh more than 363 kg from the popular area.
RCMP Sgt. Gill Vincent said rowdy campers in McLean Creek have kept officers hopping this long weekend.
"There's a lot of people and the weather's nice and there's people driving around with ATVs all over the place," said Vincent.
"There's a lot of charges being laid."
Most of the charges have been for liquor infractions, including open alcohol inside vehicles and underage drinking, he said.
Topic: More than 400 charges laid in long-weekend rowdiness (Read 2040 times)