Provincial Park Safety

Excellent signage at the Lac Le Jeune park! Thanks for keeping everyone safe. 

Caution! Sharp metal pieces on our streets

Be careful when out on your bicycles or walking your dogs! Residents are finding these metal spiral pieces all over our streets, likely from the street sweepers on the weekend. 

Reminder: Sugarloaf trails are closed!

Lac Le Jeune residents are grateful to Sugarloaf Ranch for allowing access to their trail system. Due the COVID-19 health and safety concerns, these trails are closed, just as all other recreational trails. Unfortunately, the signs are being ignored and we all risk losing this trail privilege.

These photos were shared by Will Ciancone, Ranch Manager. Local cycling groups, Kamloops Performance Cycling Centre and Kamloops Bike Riders Association, were quick to get the word out to members that this behaviour is unacceptable.

Please, do not put others at risk or jeopardize the future use of these incredible cycling opportunities in our area.

Thank you Sugarloaf Ranch for your generosity and local cycling organizations for establishing this valuable partnership and staying vigilant!

~ Sylvia Currie, with thanks to Chris Wynne for helping to get the word out.

News Release: BC Parks Closed Until Further Notice

BC Parks Response to COVID-19 

Updated April 8, 2020

Full BC Parks System Closure

• Order of the Executive Director [PDF]

Lac Le Jeune Park
Photo by Jacquie Brugger

BC Parks is immediately closing the entire BC Parks system, including all parks, protected areas, conservancies, recreation areas, and ecological reserves. All camping (front and backcountry) is now banned until May 31st, 2020. This action is being taken in response to the call for increased action to address the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the desire of the public to get outdoors, many parks have already experienced peak season levels of use that have resulted in overwhelmed parking lots, trails and trailheads, making physical distancing difficult, if not impossible in some locations. It has also resulted in damage to our facilities and the environment.

This closure is also necessary to ensure the continued health and safety of our visitors, employees, park operators and their staff, volunteers, and park contractors. By taking this action, we align with federal and provincial directives for people to stay home to reduce COVID-19 transmission risk.

This temporary measure means public and vehicle access is prohibited until further notice. All trails, roads, day-use areas, beaches, lakes, boat launches, and backcountry areas are closed to the public. Park closures will be enforced through regular monitoring and patrols and anyone found in a closed park will be evicted and could face a $115 fine.

In addition to the full system closure, the campground closure has been extended to May 31st, 2020. Full refunds will continue to be provided to those with existing reservations during this time. The Discover Camping reservation system has been suspended for all new reservations. A public notice will be issued once facilities are reopened and the system is able to accept new reservations.

BC Parks continues to monitor the COVID-19 pandemic closely and is following the recommendations set out by the Provincial Health Officer and the Minister of Health for decisions related to closure and reopening of parks and facilities.

Please continue to check the BC Parks website for updates.

BC Parks COVID-19 Questions and Answers: bcparks.ca/covid-19/questions-answers/

Media Release: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2020ENV0014-000553

For more COVID-19 information, visit the BC Centre for Disease Control: BCCDC: http://covid-19.bccdc.ca/

Provincial Health Officer and Ministry of Health News: https://news.gov.bc.ca/ministries/health

Save the date - BCLSS Annual Conference

Save the date - BCLSS Annual Conference The BCLSS is pleased to announce that our annual conference will be held in partnership with Lake Windermere Ambassadors (LWA) and Living Lakes Canada (LLC) in Invermere. This year, the theme is All Hands on Deck - Lake Stewardship in Climate Challenged Times. The event will be held at Windermere Community Hall from October 2-4, 2020. Keynote speaker will be Bob Sandford, Chair in Water and Climate Security at the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment, and Health. Watch the BC Lake Stewardship Society website for information about this event.

Community Spirit during COVID-19

A heart posted on the Lac Le Jeune bulletin board 

To all residents of Lac Le Jeune:

It is an anxious time for us all. Let’s join other communities in saying THANK YOU to those who are on the front lines including medical staff, grocery and food industry staff, gas attendants, truckers, and all those who continue to work with the public in various capacities!

Here are some suggestions:

• Hang hearts in your windows.
• Keep outside lights on for a few hours at night.
• Step out your door and make some noise at 7:00 pm each night; call out, sing, use pots and spoons, whatever (Kids like doing it, make it their responsibility!) We truly are all in this together and some of us are dealing with other issues in our lives besides COVID-19. We can let them know we are thinking of them as well!

~Jacquie Brugger on behalf of the Lac Le Jeune Conservation Society~

Community Mailboxes

We made it almost a full year without a community mailbox incident!

Waiting for repair: March 26, 2020

Thankfully, the boxes were repaired quickly this time so we weren't faced with having to travel to Kamloops to pick up mail.

There have been a few good suggestions from residents over the years:

1. Pick up your mail daily.
2. Put up a security camera. (Anybody have a spare camera?)
3. Go paperless whenever possible, especially for banking and investment mail.
4. Move the mailboxes to a more suitable location. (How can we make this happen?)
5. Rent a mailbox in Kamloops or other nearby location (Many residents already do this.) 

No open burning in Thompson Okanagan!

News Release 

See full release

====snip====

As cases of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in BC continue to increase, the BC Centre for Dis- ease Control recommends implementing measures that help to reduce excess air pollution in populated airsheds across the province. There is strong evidence that exposure to air pollu- tion increases susceptibility to respiratory viral infections by decreasing immune function. This means that:

• Deterioration in air quality may lead to more COVID-19 infections overall,
• Deterioration in air quality may lead to more cases of severe COVID-19 infections, adding
  further demand to our healthcare system, and
• Improvements to air quality may help to protect the whole population from COVID-19 and its potentially severe effects.
  
  Evidence suggests that air pollution from combustion sources is most strongly associated with increased risk of viral infection, particularly vehicle emissions and biomass burning. At this time the BC Centre for Disease Control strongly recommends that open burning of biomass fuels be restricted in areas with high or moderate risk of population exposure to the resulting smoke. While the focus should remain on social distancing to prevent the spread of infection and re- duce the number of cases, keeping our air as clean as possible will also help to protect the population during this difficult period. For this reason The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy is restricting open burning in some parts of the province. These restrictions will be evaluated on a daily basis; the area to which they apply may grow or diminish accordingly.

Transfer Station Job Opening

SCV Contractors is looking to fill a position at the Lac Le Jeune transfer station. The position is part time Wednesdays & Sundays.
If you or anyone you know are be interested, please contact Carson at 250-545-8883 or carson@scvcontractors.ca.

Moose in mourning

Snapshot from Steve Roy's webcam http://www.laclejeune.ca

What started as a shared moose-spotting from Steve Roy's webcam in our Lac Le Jeune community group soon turned to a tragic story as residents chimed in with reports of a drowned calf.

A moose and calf have been frequent visitors to Provincial Park and east end of the lake for the last few months. Earlier this week the calf fell through a hole in the lake, apparently at a weak spot created by otters. Three men pulled the calf out but sadly it was too late. The distraught mother has been pacing the area since the incident.

Photo by Sandra Putnam

Sandra Putnam and her pug fell in the same hole on the weekend. Luckily Sandra caught herself waist deep and was able to get them both out to safety. She cautions that piles of dirt on the lake are likely caused by otters leaving a hole. These holes can then get covered with snow so it's difficult to know where they're located.

~Sylvia Currie~