With summer officially starting today and the school break not far behind, there is without a doubt plenty of Sundre and surrounding area residents who are looking forward to camping.
In fact rain or sunshine, some people have already been enjoying the opportunity to head out into the West Country since before the long weekend, to enjoy our vast breathtaking backyard.
While regular recreational land-users tend to appreciate and respect the invaluable resource that is immediately within our reach, there remains a persistent minority who could not seem to care any less about leaving in their wake a catastrophic mess of trash in our pristine wilderness.
Although we doubt the Round Up's readers are among those who demonstrate such a callous disrespect of our natural resources, there is a possibility you might not necessarily be aware of changes made this year to Alberta Agriculture and Forestry that facilitate the provincial government department's efforts to curb abuse of the land.
Among the changes is an updated Report A Poacher hotline that now includes land abuse infractions, said Barry Shellian, Rocky Forest Area information coordinator. While the 24-7 service can still of course be called regarding suspicious hunting and fishing activity or dangerous wildlife encounters, it now can also be contacted to report serious public lands abuses.
Provincial officials urge Albertans to call the line when they observe a person or group of people doing any of the following: driving a vehicle in the bed or shore of a natural water body; driving up and down a stream; 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; clearing trees and other plants to create a camping spot; building or inhabiting an unauthorized structure on public lands; leaving large amounts of litter; or abandoning vehicles.
"Sasquatch is always out there but we never see his tracks ó we want people to be the same," said Shellian, adding there are signs in the West Country indicating which sites are suitable for camping and those that are not.
Maintaining our natural resources and ensuring future generations also have access to the same opportunity is a shared responsibility.
So even if you're among the responsible recreational land-users who invest the time and effort to pack out everything that was brought in, you can still help to reduce the impact on our wilderness simply by keeping an eye out and reporting any reckless abuse of the land.
Report A Poacher can be reached by calling 1-800-642-3800. Be prepared to provide information such as the date, time and location of the infraction, as well as details about the violation and descriptions of the people and their vehicles, including makes, models, colour and licence plates if possible. Any personal information remains confidential and callers can remain anonymous.
ó Simon Ducatel, Round Up editor
