A group made up of volunteers who clean up the backcountry was honoured with an award over the weekend.

The Okanagan Forest Task Force (OFTF) received a Special Recognition Award from the Conservation Officer Service on Sunday (Oct. 17).

OFTF founder Kane Blake said it all came as a surprise on Sunday when he and a group of volunteers were doing a short meeting before starting to clean up along Beaver Lake Road in Lake Country. Since the group works closely with the Conservation Officer Service in the Okanagan, Blake said they told the officers about the morning meeting but didn鈥檛 suspect anything special was going to happen.

鈥淲e told them about the morning meeting and they said they wanted to attend it,鈥� he said.

鈥淚t made sense because it鈥檚 hunting season, so there are road checks and things like that. So we waited until they showed up, did our morning meeting and during that meeting in front of everybody, they handed us the award.鈥�

North Okanagan Zone conservation officer Ken Owens said it was a pleasure to present the award to Blake and OFTF, which has helped combat illegal dumping in the backcountry and other forested areas in 琉璃神社 and the Okanagan.

鈥淚n 琉璃神社, we are very fortunate to have a community group of outdoor enthusiasts, the Okanagan Forest Task Force who organizes volunteer cleanup events and outdoor recreational areas,鈥� he said in a statement.

鈥淪ince their formation in August 2016, they have cleaned up more than 360,000 pounds of garbage locally鈥� I can not say enough about how fortunate we are to have (Blake) and his devoted group of volunteers reclaiming the backcountry surrounding 琉璃神社 from illegal dumpers that had become a real problem.鈥�

For his part, Blake said it felt good to be recognized for the hard work they do.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not just for one person or anything, this award is for the entire group and all of our sponsors,鈥� he said.

鈥淲ithout them, we wouldn鈥檛 be anywhere. With ABC Recycling, Nor-Val Rentals for our equipment, Ford that got my truck going again, Canadian Tire that helped with suspension and tire work on my truck, and Dan Carter from Red Cherry Media who helped with our new website.鈥�

He added the volunteers were happy and excited about the award and encouraged them to keep doing the work they do.

翱贵罢贵鈥檚 now has a page where people can report illegal dumpsites in the backcountry, as well as a map of reported locations, and Blake encourages residents to report sites with as much detail as possible.

鈥淚 just want to thank the community for the support in everything our group does,鈥� he said.

鈥淲e鈥檙e not going anywhere and we鈥檙e going to keep doing what we鈥檙e doing.鈥�

More information reporting illegal dumpsites, as well as information on how to donate to OFTF, are available on .

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twila.amato@blackpress.ca
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