MISSOULA — Missoula Parks and Recreation Department crews broke down and cleaned up an encampment in the city's North Hills on Thursday.
The breaking down and clean up of the encampment began at 11:30 a.m. and took place just off the side of the Froehlich Trailhead, off Orange Street and Interstate 90. The trail was closed from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. to facilitate the clean up.
The crew consisted of a backhoe — to transport parts of the broken down encampment to and from an on-sight garbage truck — a side-by-side, an ATV and several crew members on foot.
The encampment was scheduled to be cleaned up because it violated several Missoula municipal and health codes.
“The amount of trash, open pit latrines, that kinda stuff just kinda hit a level that triggers a clean up response on our end,” said Missoula Parks and Recreation Associate Director of Ecosystem Services Morgan Valliant.
A City of Missoula flyer states the encampment had become “a public health hazard, safety hazard, and/or public nuisance.”
Assistance from the City's Homeless Outreach Team to access alternative shelter and other services was also provided.
The camp itself consisted of one large abandoned tent that was still standing by the time the crew arrived as well as two tents that were already broken down and abandoned. Besides the tents, there were also several piles of garbage and other miscellaneous objects around.
Besides health concerns, the encampment posed a risk to wildlife as it existed in one of the few shrub and tree areas on the North Hills, according to city officials.
“Those shrub thickets and seeps are incredibly important for migratory songbirds and other species of concern that we are trying to manage. And so, in general, any kind of camping or clearing of vegetation directly conflicts with some of our long-term habitat and wildlife management goals," Valliant explained.
No one was present in the encampment before or by the time the clean up crews arrived. According to a flyer left pinned up at the encampment, the residents of the encampment were given a week's notice before crews showed up.
