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Vernon  

'Dead zone' on BX trail

A Vernon area resident is wondering if, and when, the North Okanagan Regional District is going to deal with dangerous trees along the BX Creek trail.

The woman, who did not want to be identified, walks the trail regularly, but is concerned by erosion along the creek bed that she believes has created a dangerous situation.

"Someone's going to get killed," she predicted.

“I called the (North Okanagan Regional District) for a tree assessment of the cedars that have fallen or are at high risk of falling in the back walking trail area of the BX  Ranch Park. Many of the big cedars have roots exposed and have already fallen in the forest along BX Creek. It's almost a daily occurrence and getting more dangerous by the week.”

Officials with the regional district tend to agree there is a problem.

During a meeting of local politicians in October, NORD's chief executive officer David Sewell admitted “with flooding this year, there are quite a number of dangerous trees.”

He also said a tree assessment was necessary but that the fix, to cut down the trees, would be expensive.

The resident referred to the area along the creek as “a dead zone that is getting worse every day."

"Tree assessments are an ongoing function of the RDNO every yea," said Mike Fox, with the regional district. "These assessments will focus on the areas where people normally inhabit or frequently go. RDNO staff have been out to most of the trails and natural spaces in the fall and will base the budget around the condition of the trees we have seen at this time and also add in a buffer as it is hard to say what the weather will provide this year. We saw last year that it is hard to predict the weather or what damage it will do to the RDNO's trails and natural spaces."



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