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Taking tires out of Shuswap Lake

When Ken Stengler chose to put down roots in Salmon Arm, he decided old truck tires should not be a part of his or anyone else’s lake vista.
Rob Alexander and Wayne Hannis roll tires, with Tom Wescott in the background
Clean-up: Rob Alexander and Wayne Hannis roll tires up the bank.

When intrepid traveller Ken Stengler chose to put down roots in Salmon Arm, he decided old truck tires should not be a part of his or anyone else’s lake vista.

“I saw them when I came here to house sit and I thought, what are those tires doing in this beautiful place?” he says, of a stroll he took along the elevated walkway in front of the Prestige Harbourfront Resort. “This fall, I went along the breakwater east of the wharf, in front of Lakeside Manor, looked out and thought, how terrible is that?”

Describing himself as a proactive person, Stengler decided to do something to clean up the tires and began the process by approaching “officialdom.”

He held a meeting at the Prestige in January and was delighted with the response that included the attendance of Mayor Nancy Cooper and Coun. Ken Jamieson.

Cooper says she was happy to arrange for the city to help transport the tires and was impressed with Stengler’s commitment to beautifying the area.

“There were many partners in this project –  the city, the Prestige, Lakeside Manor, Kal Tire,  Columbia Shuswap Regional District, Shuswap Trail Alliance, SABNES and Shuswap Naturalists, as well as others who did the extremely hard work,” says Stengler.

Federal Fisheries and Oceans were also contacted about the project and outlined some guidelines to help protect fish habitat.

Stengler and naturalist Ed Dahl began the heavy work of extricating the large tires from the ice and were thrilled when Shuswap Trail Alliance co-ordinator Phil McIntyre-Paul sent the Trail Alliance’s winter work crew.

Hired under the federal-provincial Job Creation Partnership Program, the winter crew has been busy working in several areas of the Shuswap.

Stengler says city crews took most of the tires to Kal Tire, where they were recycled in the provincial Tire Stewardship Program – but not before Stengler and crew cleaned them out thoroughly.

CSRD waste management co-ordinator Ben Van Nostrand says he was happy to waive tipping fees because the program was a community clean-up event.

“I think it’s fantastic,” he said of the initiative, which due to more tire sightings will continue.

“Guess what, I’ve spotted another 50 between Raven and the wharf,” Stengler says, noting some tires are so embedded in ice, their removal will have to wait until spring thaw, but he will push on to complete the job.

“Now local Salmon Arm folks, tourists, and birdwatchers from around the world who come to take pictures of osprey and the dancing grebes will no longer have tires in their photos.”