Access Management Compliance and Enforcement Program (AMCEP) August Report

Transcription

1 BC Conservation Officer Service Access Management Compliance and Enforcement Program (AMCEP) August Report Compiled by Conservation Officer Patricia Burley August 1-31, 2012 Weigert Creek Access Management Area 1

2 Introduction The August Access Management Compliance and Enforcement Program (AMCEP) Report is the forth report for the 6 month period completed by Conservation Officer Burley. The following are some highlights from the previous months work. CO Burley patrolled the southern portion of the East Flathead AMA on August 1 by ATV. She patrolled the Sage/Kishanina loop to see what tracks would be found in the area. The connecting loop to the east of the Kishanina and Sage roads are closed year round. She found that people had obviously been in the closure since ATV s tracks were found throughout the whole trail. Storm tree s and over growth on the Kishanina side were cut out, but this could have been from the outfitter since they ride horses along the same trail. 10 ATV contacts were made and educated in the East Flathead that day, all of which were found on the open roads. All contacts were camped within the Flathead area. The Chauncey Todhunter AMA was patrolled by CO Deboon and CO Burley on August 8 th. They drove the section of Dry Creek and Ewin Rd. A couple people were contacted on ATV s within the open roads. A violation ticket was written for a person fishing without a licence on the Fording River on their way to the AMA. Alexander Creek AMA was patrolled by truck to the Race Horse Pass. A couple people on ATV s were checked, but a larger group had quadded into the Crown Mountain Trail that CO Burley had just missed. This is a heavy accessed area by Albertans who come in from Race Horse or Deadmans Pass. It is a matter of timing to make contact with the groups that are coming in on the closed road beside Deadmans Pass. Corbin AMA was also patrolled the same day. No one was found within the AMA. Anglers and camps were checked along Michel Creek, a barbed hook ticket was written for an individual. All groups and camps contacted within or near the AMA were educated. CO Burley took part in the Kids Festival for 2 hours on August 19th. She was asked to participate by some local community volunteers. She took the opportunity to try to connect to the younger age group. Unfortunately with all the clowns, games and music entertainment, it was more of the parents that came to talk to CO Burley about hunting or problem bears, which is all positive outreach. Barnes Lake was patrolled on August 18. Unfortunately, since the last time CO Burley patrolled the area, a new ATV trail had been created to the lake through the sensitive riparian section. The walk to the lake is only 20 minutes on a scenic trail from the road closure, but people continue to ride into these sensitive areas. 3 people on ATV s were contacted on the way up the trail on the open road, but said they had not driven into the closure. Again, it is timing to actually witness people in the closed area. People seem to be quadding to this area at all times of the day. Trail cam s are to be eventually utilized in this area. 2

3 Figure 3: Barnes Lake AMA, new trail in riparian section Weigert AMA was patrolled by ATV on August 17 th. A few complaints had come in from the public regarding non compliance in the closure. Some ATV groups have been quadding past the closure sign on the main trail to the far east of the AMA to the small lake (non motorized area). CO Burley responded, but was stopped by old avalanche debris that was blocking the trail only 0.5 kms from the closed boundary sign. People had made an effort to cut some of the wood and had made it through, but only the bigger machines. The avalanche debris would help deter people from going all the way to the lake. The lookout trail was also patrolled which is an ATV only trail for July 1-Aug 31. Just before the summit, there were approximately eight trees that had fallen and were blocking the trail. No one had attempted to cut the trees. No contacts were made during the patrol. 3

4 Figure 4: Weigert Creek AMA, avalanche debris 0.5km from closed trail Figure 5: View from Weigert trail within the AMA 4

5 Grave Prairie was patrolled a couple times throughout the month by CO Burley and the other field officers. During the patrols, the Elk River had also been checked for anglers. During those checks, tickets have been written for people fishing without a licence and for fishing with prohibited gear. As for AMA violations, it continues to be a struggle to keep people from camping in the closure with motor vehicles. There is nothing illegal about a person camping with a tent, but people continue to drive in the sensitive lands with their large trailers which cause more damage and pressure on the habitat. Numerous camps have been evicted from the area, with violation tickets to go along with them. It is the consistency that the COS needs to enforcement, since the Habitat Biologist Doug Martin agrees that a closure is a closure and there should not be any grey area. The word is slowly being passed around by the locals. Warning tickets have also been issued to understanding members of the public that have been in non compliance. More signs have been put up, but the CO s are frustrated with the amount of signs that are being ripped down repeatedly. It is an offense under the Wildlife Act for people to remove, damage, alter or destroy any sign legally posted in support of the Access Management Program. More and more people are calling the RAPP line to make these types of reports, which is progress. People have been writing down plate numbers which CO Burley can follow up on and investigate. Figure 6: Grave Prairie AMA; new trails in field being developed, one group caught while driving out of the closed area with a truck and two ATV s. CO Burley s AMA Project started on August 31. She had Officer s travelling to the East Flathead that day, while she patrolled Alexander Creek AMA. While she was in Alexander Creek, she had a COS surveillance specialist patrol with her to put in some top of the line video surveillance equipment. The camera was put in a closed area which receives high numbers of non compliance ATV traffic. The project results will be in the September AMA Report. 5

6 The Upper Wigwam and Wigwam Flats AMA s were patrolled by the other field CO s during the month of August. Anglers, camps and new signs are continually checked and being put up where ever they go. Some horseback riders were checked in the Upper Wigwam near Snowshoe Lake. Hunting camps are starting to go up throughout many of the AMA s. Most of these camps will be checked throughout the hunting season. The Outdoor Access Guide (AMA Magazine) was distributed to all the East Kootenay Electoral Area A Communities and was in the Fernie Free Press on August 16 th. People have been very responsive to the magazine. Some feedback has already been passed on for the future prints. People are happy to finally see a dedicated newspaper which has all the maps in it to view in finer detail. The magazine has also been posted on the government website and on Quad Squads website. The Blairmore Husky gas station, the municipality offices, tourism centres and gas stations in Sparwood, Fernie and Elkford have the magazines available for the public. Statistics Figure 7: Current Summary of total time spent in the field up to September, 12. 6

7 Figure 8: Current Summary of statistics up to September, 12. The filtered numbers are for the month of August. Figure 9: Current Summary of total outreach provided to the public up to September, 12. It should be noted that Officer Presence is calculated as the time Officer(s) were physically present in an AMA, it does not account for travel. People that are educated are defined as COS discussing specific AMA facts and requirements for which the person in question was previously unaware. It should be noted that the Access Guardian Program and general AMA facts are discussed with more than 80% of contacts. Other Work Projects During the August Long weekend CO Burley took part in an interagency compliance and enforcement project on Lake Koocanusa. She worked with Environment Canada Officers, RCMP, Natural Resource Officers and other Conservation Officers from elsewhere in the Province. Anything and everything was being check for by the officers on water and by shore. Most non compliance had to do with violations under the Wildlife Act, Federal Fisheries Act and the Small Vessel Regulations. It was a great partnership and learning opportunity to work with other officers on a large busy lake like Koocanusa. A video link and the projects end results are as follows: Koocanusa Patrols.mov With a total of 3 ½ days of patrol starting late the afternoon of the 2 nd and ending the afternoon of the 5 th, a total of 873 resource users were contacted by law enforcement along Lake Koocanusa. The following provides further breakdown of contacts and non compliance statistics resulting from those contacts: Contact breakdown : 21 Anglers + 31 Boaters + 3 Other = 50 7

8 : 119 Anglers Boaters Other = 458 (128 Wildfire education) : 48 Anglers Boaters + 16 Other = 193 (31 Wildfire Education) : 62 Anglers + 92 Boaters + 18 Other = 172 (5 wildfire Education) Total Contacts: 873 Violations Boating Charges: 25 Angling Charges: 14 EMA Charges: 1 MVA Charges: 1 Wildfire Act Charges: 1 Forestry Act Charges: 1 Environmental Inspection Orders: 1 Total Charges: 43 Total Warnings: 79 (Combination of boating and angling offenses) Total Directed off Water: 14 (Vessels Ordered off the Water due to unacceptable safety equipment) **Total Non Compliance: 122 infractions = 14% Non Compliance Rate** ** Non compliance rate excluding Wildfire Education contacts = 17%** Note: Number of boats compared to number of person s onboard was not separated. As a result the compliance rate appears improved. An average of 4-5 persons occupied a boat throughout the duration of the project; therefore when calculating compliance rate by boat with exclusion of Wildfire education contacts, a more accurate compliance rate of approximately 78% is calculated. 8

9 Figure 1: Lake Koocanusa Project, CO Burley spent 2 days on the water with other officers. CO Burley was asked to take part in a surveillance file in the Fernie area that was quickly dealt with on the Elk River on August 8-9. This file utilized CO Burley to collect evidence, take statements, notes and pictures. One individual was arrested along the river and has been charged under the Wildlife Act for guiding without a licence. The court date is booked for November. Summer is a busy time to patrol, but it is also a time of year where officers are away on vacation or are maxed out with their work hours and have to take time off. CO Garay organised the Elk River Float Patrol mid August and needed another CO to participate to make the patrol happen safely. CO Burley did the float with another CO for 2 days. Many local angling guides and fishing enthusiasts were checked while fishing on the river or by shore. All the locations where the CO s checked anglers were areas that could not be easily accessed by truck or foot. People were please to see the CO s on the water. Tickets were written for Small Vessel Regulations and fishing with prohibited gear. The river was still high and dangerous in some areas. People were very helpful and supportive with each other while on the river to make sure everyone was safe and knew where the dangerous log jams and sweepers were. 9

10 Figure 2: Elk River Patrol, 2 days Summary CO Burley s time was also spent following up with Problem Wildlife Occurrence Reports (PWOR) when other CO s were not available. The berry crop dried up early this year which caused more black and grizzly bears to move in closer to residential area s to look for food. Elkford had 8 reported bears in town, two of which were white that had to be hazed, trapped and or removed. Bears in a community are deemed as a public safety concern in some situations, which Burley had to spend some time on. Officer time is taken up in the office to deal with any PWORs, tickets, project reports or non compliance investigations. In September the CO s will be receiving new rugged lap tops which will in turn help them to stay out of the office and spend more time in the field where they can have a presence and still get their computer work completed. The people in the East Kootenay s have such a great opportunity to explore the beauty of the Rockies which provides a variety of recreational experiences. CO Burley is enjoying making contact with all these user groups and will continue to build a better understanding to the public of the laws and regulations that are built around them. If you have any questions or concerns about the August AMA Report or questions for CO Burley, she can be contacted at: RAPP Desk Cell patricia.burley@gov.bc.ca 10

11 1621A 10th Avenue P.OBox 2877, Fernie, BC, V0B1M0 The Conservation Officer Service is a public safety provider focussed on natural resource law enforcement and human wildlife conflicts prevention and response. Our Vision: To be a progressive and respected leader in environmental compliance and enforcement, shared stewardship and public safety. The Conservation Officer Service Motto is: Integrity, Service and Protection Please see the attached Excel 2012 Stats for more detail of the Access Guardian s patrols and outreach efforts from December 2011 to August Maps To reduce document size, AMA maps have not been included in this report. If required maps of individual AMAs are available from two sources, the Ministry of environment website ( and the Hunting Regulations Synopsis. The hunting synopsis is available in print and online ( The maps available from the MoE website are in colour and contain much greater detail. 11