Far from being part of their vacation itinerary for the Yukon, some tourists have found themselves the victims of theft on campsites across the territory.

Last week, three young Americans, who were staying at the Pine Lake Territorial Campground near Haines Junction, had food and cooking utensils stolen during the night.

RCMP Cpl. Kim MacKellar of the Haines Junction Detachment said the campers had stowed their gear properly for bear safety but someone had taken it during the night.

'It's too bad these things happen,' MacKellar said in an interview this morning. 'People have to be a bit vigilant.'

Theft is not a prominent problem at Pine Lake, according to MacKellar. If there have been other thefts over the past few weeks, they have gone unreported.

'It's the only instance I can recall in the past month,' he said. 'It doesn't appear to be an ongoing problem.'

However, the American cyclists say they met a few other tourists who said they also had items stolen from campsites near Whitehorse.

There are more reports of thefts in campsites around the city, according to park officers.

Currently there are nine active files for thefts, most of which occurred in the Wolf Creek campsite, according to park officer supervisor Ryan Leef.

The former RCMP officer says the majority of thefts are minor, involving food and alcohol. Campers sometimes find their coolers emptied or missing after having left them out in open areas.

In cases like this, there is a fairly high recovery rate of the lost goods, Leef said. Just by walking around the surrounding woods, park officers will often find the abandoned cooler - minus the beer.

In one case, a woman's bag was stolen. Although her clothing was riffled through and scattered outside of the bag, her articles were recovered.

Leef said someone was likely looking for money.

'I suspect it's younger people travelling on foot,' Leef said in an interview this morning. 'I don't really think we're dealing with dangerous offenders or anything . . . it's more of an annoyance is what it is.'

This summer, Leef actually caught two young Yukoners in the act of stealing.

One day, while he was out patrolling with the summer student, Leef noticed an untended fire and a couple of bikes lying beside it. He saw two youths up ahead of him and was assumed they owned the bikes.

They were looking from side to side at the different sites and Leef assumed they were looking for friends. However, when they found an unattended site they opened the cooler and started drinking the campers' beer.

Leef recorded their names and phoned their parents.

As far as charges are concerned, Leef said the officers deal with it on a case-by-case basis, depending on the value of the stolen property and the age of those caught stealing, among other factors.

No matter how minor the theft may be, Leef said, it makes the victim feel insecure.

'It gives people personal security concerns,' he said. 'It's a tough message to deliver to people that it's just goofy young kids thinking it's fun.'

Over the past few weeks the parks officers have been doing a push specifically on these types of thefts. While Leef would not divulge the strategy used to curb beer snatching, he says it has been a success so far.

This is the second year that park officers have been patrolling camp sites in the Yukon, primarily in the southern end of the territory.

The staff of three are all former RCMP officers and shifts tend to be ten hours long for six to seven days a week.

Over the past two years Leef says there has been a drop in reports of more serious thefts such as mountain bikes and fishing equipment. While the number of minor thefts has remained about the same, he said the officers play an important preventative role.

'Our presence has certainly reduced the number of potential serious thefts,' he said.

While thefts do occur on campsites in the territory, the ratio of theft to campers is actually quite low, Leef said.

With approximately 2000 guests per week at a busy campsite like Wolf Creek, and thousands of guests over the course of the summer, even one reported theft a week is a fairly low rate of occurrence, he said.

'The most important thing here is that thefts aren't an issue most people will deal with in campgrounds.'

In the case of thefts, the best way to contact park officers is through the non-emergency line for Whitehorse RCMP.

Campers are reminded to keep valuables on them and to stow away and lock up their possessions when leaving the campsite.

See related letter p.8.