There will be no further mosquito control conducted in two North Shuswap provincial parks as BC Parks has denied an application from the Columbia Shuswap Regional District (CSRD).
Furthermore, discontinuing mosquito control in the park may lead the regional district to abandon mosquito control efforts in the entire area.
On July 11, the CSRD received a notice from BC Parks stating it would not be allowed to conduct mosquito control in the Shuswap Lake and Tsútswecw provincial parks. According to the CSRD, a BC Parks’ report concludes nuisance mosquito control is not necessary for the preservation or maintenance of the recreational value of either park.
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Also mentioned in the CSRD report on the denied permit for mosquito control in the parks are concerns about mosquito control in the Hilliam Road area expressed by Little Shuswap Lake Indian Band (LSLIB) staff. The CSRD conducts mosquito control through a servicing agreement for a portion of LSLIB land.
The CSRD’s mosquito control contractor for the Scotch Creek and Lee Creek area, BWP Consulting, has indicated to the CSRD that if treatment cannot be done in the parks and the Hilliam Road area, then the program should be abandoned. According to the CSRD report on the subject, the parks and the Hilliam Road are home to the majority of mosquito habitat in the area.
The parks were park of the larvicide treatment area from 1994 to 2015. In 2016, BWP’s request to treat the parks was met with a response stating there were not clear enough health and human safety concerns to warrant continuing mosquito control operations in the park. The report from the CSRD states the parks were not treated in 2016 or 2017. In 2018, with the formal parks use permit seeking authorization for mosquito treatment in the works, the regional manager from the Ministry of Environment authorized the CSRD to treat for mosquitoes in Shuswap Lake Provincial Park only. The parks use permit was formally denied on July 11.
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The report, which is attached to the agenda for the Aug. 15 CSRD board meeting, states that mosquito nuisance program for all of electoral Area F should be discontinued if LSLIB and the parks do not want to continue with the service.
@SalmonArm
jim.elliot@saobserver.net
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