A sign advises visitors that Haynes Point Provincial Park is closed indefinitely. It won’t reopen even after the archaeological survey is complete. (Richard McGuire photo)
Some local residents may be upset about the closure of Haynes Point Provincial Park, but they haven’t been contacting their MLA to complain.
“To be honest, I haven’t had one email on this. Not one,” said Linda Larson, MLA for Boundary-Similkameen, in an interview last week.
If her staff has received any phone calls on the issue, she hasn’t yet heard about it, she said.
Only when the closure was announced in May did she hear anything from constituents.
“At the very beginning back in the spring when this first happened I did get a couple of emails about it, but to be perfectly honest, nothing since then,” Larson said.
The entire park was closed on October 1 for all camping and day use, including for walk-in visitors and access to the boat launch.
The closure was announced in May after human bones were found in April suggesting that Haynes Point might have been a burial ground for ancestors of First Nations in this area.
An archaeological survey is being conducted throughout October, but the park will remain closed into 2015 until an agreement for the park’s future is reached with the Osoyoos Indian Band (OIB).
On the week of the closure, officials from BC Parks turned away walkers at the gate. Last week, when parks officials weren’t around, local residents continued to walk in the park.
Larson said it is easy for constituents to contact her simply by clicking a button on her website.
Despite not hearing from constituents on the issue, Larson said she understands how some constituents feel.
“I’ve walked Haynes Point myself and certainly the little riparian area there off to the right when you come down into it,” she said. “It’s lovely and I know lots of people like to wait until the campers have gone and then get back again, but under these circumstances, this is the way it is.”
Larson noted that currently there is an archaeological survey to recover any bones and artifacts and it’s understandable those involved don’t want the public walking around when this is happening.
“They did wait until the fall,” she said. “They tried to disrupt as little as possible for the people during the summer, but the parking lot itself is right beside where the excavations are happening and they just didn’t want to risk people walking around on the site.”
Larson said she sympathizes with people whose walking routine has been disrupted, but she added that what is happening is very important to the OIB.
“I believe we should let them go through the process,” she said.
She declined to speculate on how long the closure may last adding that this would depend on what is found during the archaeological excavations.
In discussions of the issue on the Osoyoos Times Facebook page, some readers expressed anger at the position taken by the OIB, while others defended the OIB and criticized those complaining for being selfish and ignorant.
Larson acknowledged that the incident might have caused some friction between some local residents and the OIB.
“I’m sure there are some people who would feel some resentment,” she said. “But in the bigger picture, the Osoyoos Indian Band is a huge employer in the Osoyoos area, responsible for a ton of tourism that happens there. It’s one of the reasons that the [Osoyoos] community exists, period.”
The Osoyoos Times was unable to reach OIB Chief Clarence Louie for comment.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
MLA Linda Larson (Richard McGuire file photo)
