Bighorn Backcountry overrun by random campers: committee

EDMONTON – A committee advising the provincial government said a vast section of Alberta backcountry once considered for a park is being overused by tens of thousands of random campers.

The Bighorn Backcountry takes in thousands of square kilometres of west-central Alberta along the foothills and the Rockies.

The oversight committee said random campers are cutting trees, strewing garbage and trespassing on First Nations land.

Committee members added tens of thousands of campers descend on the area every weekend.

They said garbage is piled in ditches and overflowing municipal dumpsters.

With few bathrooms, human waste is a problem.

The area has two rangers who often experience hostility trying to enforce laws.

The previous NDP government had announced plans to turn the area into a provincial park but The United Conservatives squelched that when they won last
year’s election.

The Alberta government did not respond to a request for comment.