Note: Haynes Point Provincial Park including the boat launch is now closed to all walk-in traffic and a BC Parks official is turning people away. This story will be updated. The B.C. Ministry of Environment which is responsible for BC Parks has still not commented or put out a public statement.
Below is the story that appeared in the Osoyoos Times print edition on Wednesday, Oct. 1.
With Haynes Point Provincial Park closing for the season Oct. 1, the provincial government is being tight-lipped about whether local residents can access any of the park during an archaeological dig.
A spokesperson for the B.C. Ministry of the Environment said last month that full information would be available last week.
On Friday, however, he said a statement was not yet available and wouldn’t be until an unspecified day this week.
No further information was available when the Osoyoos Times went to press on Tuesday.
In April, excavation work for toilets in the eastern part of campground turned up what is believed to be ancestral remains and a burial site of the Osoyoos Indian Band (OIB).
An agreement reached between the province and the OIB in May set out a deal where the park would close for camping and day use activities effective Oct. 1., until further notice.
“This will allow for a full archaeological inventory prior to winter and for the province and OIB to work in partnership on decisions regarding how best to manage the park and protect important cultural heritage sites and values going forward,” the Ministry of Environment and OIB said in a joint news release in May.
During the camping season, toilet facilities were reduced with those at the burial site permanently decommissioned.
In previous years when the park has closed for camping, local residents would still use the park for cycling and walking.
Osoyoos resident Sue Gerrard said she phoned BC Parks for clarification after hearing local residents express concerns that the park would be closed to dog walkers and people on bicycles.
Gerrard, who operates Dirty Hairy’s barber shop on Main Street, said she talked to a woman at BC Parks who told her there would be no public access to the park whatsoever during the dig.
Asked if this is correct, the Environment Ministry spokesperson declined to comment.
Nor was the ministry prepared to comment on longer term plans for operation of the park, including speculation that the OIB will take over its operation along with provincial parks at Okanagan Falls, Inkaneep and Vaseux Lake, which are on traditional OIB lands.
Osoyoos Mayor Stu Wells said he doesn’t care who operates Haynes Point in the future as long as three conditions for the town are met.
“We want it open, we want public access and we want the boat launch,” he said.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
