The hotline to report poachers can now also be dialed to inform authorities whenever a member of the public witnesses a violation of the Public Lands Act.
“The Report A Poacher line has been established for a number of years and functions well, so this is just one more add-on to it,” said Wayne Crocker, land management specialist with Alberta Environment and Parks.
In the past, Fish and Wildlife as well as Alberta Environment and Parks officials were not responsible for enforcing the Public Lands Act.
“It was done by our department in the form of forest officers and lands officers and a guardian program that ended a number of years back. So somebody had to come in and fill the void for public lands enforcement,” Crocker told the Gazette during a phone interview Sept. 8.
“As of now, Fish and Wildlife and (Alberta Environment and) Parks staff are all involved in enforcement of the Public Lands Act,” he said.
Since the protection of wildlife intuitively goes hand in hand with safeguarding ecosystems and habitat, expanding the Report A Poacher service to include Public Lands Act infractions simply made sense, he said.
“It seems like an efficient way to deal with multiple (related) legislative acts,” he said.
The change to the Report A Poacher hotline was introduced in the spring of 2016. Fish and Wildlife as well as Alberta Environment and Parks officials have as a result become far more involved in enforcing the legislation created to protect public lands, he said.
“There is a way to gauge it in the number of responses to complaints that were over and above the Fish and Wildlife Act — it's definitely up,” he said about the volume of calls the hotline has fielded since the expansion was introduced.
“Both (Alberta Environment and) Parks enforcement and Fish and Wildlife have an increased number of violation tickets and court appearances and warnings that they have given out around the Public Lands Act,” he said.
The public is also starting to pick up on the message that the Report A Poacher hotline has now become an option to inform authorities regarding not only wildlife concerns but also public land abuse as well, he said.
Among the more common public land use infractions are water violations, such as the operator of an off-highway vehicle tearing the vehicle up and down a river or creek bed. But there are also issues with garbage and other discarded or abandoned items including old vehicles and appliances.
During summer weekends and long weekends, the West Country gets anywhere from 10,000 to 30,000 visitors, although Crocker admitted officials do not have solid figures as a precise count is logistically challenging over such a vast region.
“But there are a lot of people who use the land, and it does have its impacts,” he said.
While it's fair to say the bulk of those recreational land users try to do their best to be responsible, there are nevertheless occasional abuses that are the result of a lack of knowledge or information — in other words violations are not always intentional, he said, adding public education and awareness is an important part of the equation.
However, an even smaller percentage of the infractions that stem from ignorance are the result of sheer neglect. Still, officials have noticed a change — for the better — in terms of people's behaviour in the West Country, he said, adding there is less garbage being left behind than there used to be.
“People are starting to get it. But because there are so many users, we have to maintain education and enforcement,” he said.
According to provincial officials, activities and behaviours considered serious public lands abuse include the following: driving a vehicle in the bed or shore of a natural water body; driving up and down a stream; crossing a stream perpendicular to the flow with excessive speed or wheel spinning; not using a nearby established crossing, bridge or ford to cross a natural water body; creating tire ruts; creating new vehicle trails in an area that already has existing trails; taking their vehicle off trail in sensitive high alpine areas; blocking existing trails; clearing a new trail to access another area; clearing trees and other plants to create a camping spot; building or inhabiting an unauthorized structure on public lands; leaving large amounts of litter; abandoning vehicles; and entering a closed area.
Call 1-800-642-3800 to report violations of the wildlife and public lands acts.
