Public campsite a disaster

One of the privileges of this area is its amazing natural resources.
Clean water, dense forest and public recreational spaces set this piece of the country apart.
Picture your favourite district campsite, with its trees and natural beauty.
Now picture it desecrated by trash, forgotten clothing, propane tanks and various other refuse.
Picture trees cut down and tarped haphazardly into a shelter, strung together by tent material. Inside this heap is garbage and a cooler left behind, not to mention empty beer cans and a whiskey bottle near the opening.
A bathing suit top lies lonely in the middle of the campsite while everything from pop cans to broken glass litter the ground.
A stereo sits broken in a fire pit, along with empty drink cans and cigarette pack tin foil.
Approaching the remote beach by boat, there is a plastic container filled with food sitting on the beach. A sweatshirt, sandal and a pop can are spread out a few feet away.
This is the current state of the Red Gut Bay site on Baseline Bay.
Weekend campers left nearly everything they came with behind. In addition to the garbage, clothing and coolers are sleeping bags, towels, tent poles and the most shocking-several empty, unused garbage bags.
Local Ministry of Natural Resources conservation officer Mike Veniot stumbled across the scene by accident Sunday as he arrived there to spend some leisure time.
A 23-year resident of the Fort, Veniot was shocked by the scene.
“This is the worst that I’ve seen since I’ve been in Fort Frances,” he admitted bleakly.
Looking at the site, it is difficult to understand what even happened there. Clearly there was drinking, but the state of it is hard to comprehend.
“You want to use it and you want it to be the same when you come back,” he said of local public spaces.
“They’re so conscientious about the way they use the resource, 99.9 percent of [Fort] people respect the resource,” he continued in disbelief.
“It kinds of hits at the core,” he admitted in reference to the respect locals have for the area’s natural spaces.
As it stands, leaving Crown land in such a state can draw up to a $10,000 fine under section 27.1 of the Public Lands Act. In addition, offenders can be fined up to $1,000 for every additional day the material remains on public lands.
However, as Veniot suspects young people are responsible, he noted under law there may be different considerations based on age.
Veniot reminded that to use Crown land such as the campsite at Red Gut Bay, there are rules.
There is a 21-day camping limit. Fort residents can camp without a permit but non-residents must have a camping permit for each person over 18 years of age and the site must be kept in tidy conditions at all times.
If those responsible are not identified, it will fall in the hands of the MNR to clean the site, eating up time and taxpayers’ money and further stretching the cohesive team of seven conservation officers.
As it stands now, the site is not suitable for use, Veniot explained.
The MNR is seeking help from the public in identifying those responsible for the mess. And while the offenders have committed violations, to Veniot the most important issue is cleaning the site—after all, it’s a full day’s job to do properly.
“If we could get it cleaned up then that would be ideal,” Veniot declared.
Aside from the mess left behind, Veniot pointed out other possible problems related to the incident.
For instance, judging by the evidence of alcohol and the mad appearance of the site, ”There could have been some accident related to alcohol there.”
This worry prompted Veniot to check with OPP and make sure no one was injured over the weekend on the lake.
As well, the large quantity of food left scattered throughout the site makes it a bear temptation-leading to possible bear issues at the site in the future.
Anyone with information about the Red Gut Bay site on Rainy Lake is asked to contact Mike Veniot at the Ministry of Natural Resources: 274-8636. Or call the anonymous TIPS line at: 1-877-847-7667.