The West Coastsa国际传媒檚 sa国际传媒楲ocks of Lovesa国际传媒� fence has again become a frustrating eyesore as visitors continue to bizarrely cover it with garbage in whatsa国际传媒檚 become a frustrating and harmful ritual.
Visitors have long been stopping at the chain link fence along Hwy. 4 at Wally Creek on their way in or out of the Tofino-Ucluelet region. Many have placed a padlock on the fence as a romantic gesture to commemorate their West Coast experiences.
But a horrifying trend of stringing up trash has also popped up in recent years, exacerbated by the pandemic as disposable face masks have become common sa国际传媒榤ementossa国际传媒� left behind.
A team from WestCoast WILD Adventures recently did its best to clean the fence as coworkers Anne-Marie Gosselin, Kelly Bedford and Teyah Little tackled the site on May 2.
Gosselin told the Westerly News they had seen a Facebook post showing the fence strewn with trash and were sa国际传媒渄isgustedsa国际传媒� by it, agreeing to leave for work early the next day to remove as much as they could. They arrived at the fence a little before 9 a.m. armed with garbage bags, gloves, scissors and other debris-tackling tools.
sa国际传媒淚t hit a few nerves. It really got us passionate about what was going on up there. Somebody had to do something and we had timesa国际传媒� Gosselin said. sa国际传媒淲e all stood there for probably about two minutes not even knowing where to start. It was disgusting. We cut off as much as we could.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淭he creativity of what people use to put on that fence is amazing. What people find in their cars or have in their back pockets that they think is OK to leave, credit to them, theysa国际传媒檙e being creative, but I had no idea how much junk was on that fence,sa国际传媒� she said.
She said the area is an important wildlife habitat and the microplastics on the fence could be catastrophic.
sa国际传媒淲e live and play in that water,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 really important for us that we keep it clean and pristine as much as possible.sa国际传媒�
She said the WestCoast WILD Adventures team left signs asking people not to leave litter and plans to keep their eye on the spot.
sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檒l do our best, but I think itsa国际传媒檚 going to take the entire community,sa国际传媒� she said.
Goslin posted photos of the fence and the teamsa国际传媒檚 work to clean it on the companysa国际传媒檚 Facebook page on May 2 and said she and her crew were surprised and inspired by the response they received.
sa国际传媒淲hen I posted that, I had no idea it would go that far and reach that many people,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淚t was great to hear the majority of the community celebrating what we had done. It made us feel good because you never know what reaction yousa国际传媒檒l get for taking off peoplessa国际传媒� potential memories.sa国际传媒�
Local interest in removing the fence from the area gained momentum last September when and raised their concern about how grotesque it had become.
The area sits outside the jurisdictions of both Tofino and Ucluelet and is the responsibility of B.C.sa国际传媒檚 Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.
A ministry spokesperson told the Westerly News last week that the ministry is aware of the COVID-19 masks and other garbage being hung on the fence and continues to investigate potential signage for the site.
sa国际传媒淭here is no regular litter pick-up at this location, like there would be at a rest area. The ministry is looking at installing sa国际传媒榥o littersa国际传媒� signage to remind people not to leave garbage on the fence itself, and in the area. While there is no regular litter removal, the ministry does remove debris once it is over a certain size and in accordance with our provincial maintenance specifications,sa国际传媒� the spokesperson wrote via email.
sa国际传媒淓nforcement of regulatory signage, or any applicable laws, is the responsibility of the local police agency or RCMP.sa国际传媒�
They added that the fence will not be removed.
sa国际传媒淲ally Creek, at the Kennedy Love Locks location, can have dangerously heavy water flows, especially when the river is high. The chain link fence was installed as a safety measure to both limit people from accessing the water and to provide a small platform for people to view the river without danger of falling in,sa国际传媒� the spokesperson wrote. sa国际传媒淭he ministry reminds people that littering is prohibited in British Columbia and encourages people to refrain from leaving face masks on the fence.sa国际传媒�
andrew.bailey@westerlynews.ca
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