A surprisingly well-built squatters’ camp, complete with rock-lined footpaths, handrails and a log bridge, was dismantled Friday morning by B.C. government officials, local volunteers and Chilliwack RCMP officers.

While there was some sympathy for the squatters - and even admiration for some of their handiwork - the camp posed a risk to fish habitat and spoiled a nearby provincial day-camp area that was being used as an outdoor toilet.

The camp’s location on Sweltzer Creek, just upstream from the Vedder River Bridge, also exposed the squatters to the risk of a flood or a mudslide from the cliffs above the site, a government official said.

Bob Cunneyworth, a compliance officer with the BC Agriculture Ministry’s integrated land management bureau, said the occupants were given notice in May last year, and then again in August this year, to move out or they would be evicted and their possessions seized.

At least four people lived permanently in the camp that included an old camper trailer, a large teepee, a GMC van and two cabins. But the number of squatters at the camp could reportedly swell upwards to 20 or more.

“They were moving in and out on a daily basis,” Cunneyworth said.

There were no high-end stolen goods found at the camp Friday, but there were a lot of bikes with their serial numbers scratched off, chainsaws, fishing equipment, propane bottles, a kayak - and bolt cutters.

There was also evidence of metal salvaging at the camp, a criminal activity that has long vexed city and Fraser Valley authorities.

It’s also assumed the squatters were helping themselves to the various species of salmon swimming up Sweltzer Creek - including the Cultus Lake sockeye, which has teetered on the brink of extinction.

Cunneyworth said the occupants were offered a helping hand to find other accommodation by the social services ministry and by a Salvation Army addictions outreach worker, who relocated at least one woman before the dismantling of the camp Friday.

He said the camp apparently started with two occupants, but gradually grew until it became “intolerable” to members of the Soowahlie First Nation and to nearby residents who feared for their safety as they walked along a road near the camp.

“We began receiving complaints from First Nations, the RCMP, the City and the Ministry of Tourism,” Cunneyworth said, but the land branch’s “main concern” was the safety of the camp dwellers.

“There could have been a disaster here, if we didn’t take action,” he said.

“They were definitely at risk of being crushed in a mudslide,” he said, or being swept away in a flood since portions of the camp along a 250-foot section of the creek were just a foot away from the low-water mark.

One section had been built up and fortified with rock, but that construction had compacted the soil so that the natural vegetation and shade provided fish in the creek was destroyed.

The occupants were notified in May last year that they were trespassing on Crown land, and told again in August this year they would be evicted on Sept. 17. But even that deadline was extended to the end of the month.

“They’ve had absolutely more than a reasonable amount of notice,” Cunneyworth said. “We’ve been very reasonable with them.”

Friday’s dismantling was assisted by members of the Soowahlie First Nation, the Chilliwack/Vedder Cleanup Coalition and the Fraser Valley Salmon Society.

The agriculture ministry plans to plant 50 cedar trees in the area to block further use of the site as a camp.

rfreeman@theprogress.com