‘Nobody is protecting this lake’: Stewards of Monte Lake continue cleanup
KAMLOOPS — Camille Staples and her family grew up going to Monte Lake at the halfway point between Kamloops and Vernon, although their enthusiasm to spend time there has dwindled over the years.
Whether it’s been pandemic-related or not, she’s noticed more for traffic at Monte Lake within the last year, and that visitors haven’t properly cleaned up after themselves.
“We’ve stopped going down there just because of the amount of human waste, garbage, all sorts of nasty things,” Staples said. “We don’t want to go down there, it’s gross. We thought we should do something to clean it up so we can use it.”
Staples, her sisters, and her friends formed the Stewards of Monte Lake group in Summer 2020 and had its first cleanup of the lake took place the following fall.