Access Management Compliance and Enforcement Program (AMCEP) September Report

Transcription

1 BC Conservation Officer Service Access Management Compliance and Enforcement Program (AMCEP) September Report Compiled by Conservation Officer Patricia Burley September 1-30, 2013 Eastflathead AMA September 21, 2013 Proctor Lake Recreation Site 1

2 Introduction The September Access Management Compliance and Enforcement Program (AMCEP) Report is the fourth report for the 6 month period for 2013 completed by Conservation Officer (CO) Burley. September 1 st was the official opening to the long and busy hunting season in the East Kootenay s. CO Burley anticipated the excitement that many hunters would be feeling towards the bow and rifle season. It is a busy, but fun time of year for the CO s to be out and about making sure people are aware of the regulations and following the relevant hunting and safety laws. September 1 st was the opening day to the bow hunting season. Bow hunters have 9 days to be ahead of the game by not having the wildlife spooked from all the rifle shooting that comes along with the rifle season (September 10 th ). Bow hunters could also access the bow only zones which are outside of some mine areas. CO Burley patrolled Grave Prairie AMA dark and early on September 1 st. She checked 22 people in the area, most of which were hunters, where she provided AMA information and handed out the Outdoor Access Guide (OAG). There were a number of camps in the area, but all were within the open legal locations. A Report All Poachers and Polluters (RAPP) complaint came in for CO Burley on September 9 th in Grave Prairie AMA. CO Burley responded to the compliant of a number of illegal camps parked in closed areas. CO Burley found two senior men from the Lower Mainland that had put together an extravagant campsite within the open grasslands of Grave Prairie. The men were uncertain of the closure area and were educated by CO Burley. She gave them until the next morning to move camp and issued tickets to them. She continued her patrol in the area checking hunters, educating them and providing the OAG and TECK no shooting maps. Figure 1: Grave Prairie AMA. 2

3 CO Burley went back to Grave Prairie AMA on September 10 th (open rifle season) where a hunter she checked the previous day had a loaded firearm in his vehicle. Aside from the occurrence being illegal it is also a huge safety concern. CO Burley issued the hunter a violation ticket for $230. She continued onto Chauncey/Todhunter AMA where she put locks on two new gates that the Elkford Rod and Gun Club had volunteered to build. A message from Bill Hanlon, one of the Elkford Club volunteers that helped build the new gates within the AMA, wrote the following message: September 7, 2013 We installed the gates on Ewin Side Draw road and Chauncey Creek road yesterday (see Figures 2 and 3). Patricia has MoE locks and will put them on the next time she is in the vicinity. Once again, The Elkford Rod & Gun Club would like to thank Teck for its generous donation to cover the costs of materials, construction and machinery for this important project. I would like to advertise, in the form of decals on the gates, the collaborative efforts of the partners involved in this project. If there is some way that all parties can get me a business/ministry decal or club logo I will insure they are installed on the gates. Like I explained below, this will help inform the public on the collaborative efforts for conservation here in the Elk Valley. After all, the Access Management Areas in the Elk and Fording Valleys are historic in scope and have become conservation success stories after decades of management. Thank you once again to all parties involved. The Elkford Rod & Gun Club initiated a gate project on the Chauncey Creek Forest Service Road to reduce access violations in the Chauncey/Todhunter Access Management Area. The Chauncey FSR is closed year round to the operation of motor vehicles under the Wildlife Act. The Elkford Rod & Gun Club made application to install a gate and received permission from the Ministry of Forest, Lands and Natural Resource Operations and the Ministry of Environment. It was our desire to partner with industry or other user groups to show a collaborated effort to reduce vandalism and encourage compliance but wasn't sure how to associate this project with local industry. I then noticed Teck's application for a weather station in Ewin Side Draw (also within the Chauncey/Todhunter AMA) and I thought this would be an opportunity to share resources with Teck and partner somehow on both gates. This would minimize costs to both parties and bolster respect for the gates which tend to be looked upon negatively from the uninformed public. We plan to install the Chauncey gate this summer and we have already given approved gate plans to Bighorn Welding in Sparwood who was going to contribute some of the construction costs towards our gate. The Elkford R&G has approved a budget for gate material. 3

4 Figure 2: East Ewin Side Draw Gate Seasonally closed road within Chauncey/Tohunter AMA. Figure 3: Chauncey Creek Rd gate installed on a year round closed road within the Chauncey/Todhunter AMA. CO Burley started to patrol the Alexander Creek AMA on September 14 th for recent complaints regarding non-compliance by hunters on the Deadmans Pass year round forestry closed road. Unfortunately she had to respond to an illegally shot and killed mule deer doe north of Elkford. Hunters need to be aware of all the different seasons for large game within a certain Management Unit (MU). There are many new and veteran hunters out there where honest accidents/mistakes do happen, but some are preventable by thoroughly reading through the regulations. Hunters are reminded to do their due diligence by knowing the regulations, asking questions and taking that extra time to look at an animal before pulling the trigger. If a hunter 4

5 makes a mistake, they are to report it to the RAPP line ASAP, dress the animal and mark it in their hunting licenses that they will be self-reporting. A CO will then follow up with an investigation on the details. Conservation Officers throughout the Province deal with thousands of complaints during the hunting season regarding illegal hunting practices. The Upper Elk Valley AMA was patrolled on September 12 th. 17 hunters were checked for licences and firearm safety. 2 anglers and 3 others were checked while CO Burley was in the area as well. The OAG was handed out which people were happy to receive. A hunter and assistant guide were checked coming out of the area with a large 6X6 elk. It was reported to CO Burley that a number of legal elk had been harvested from the area already. Most of the hunters that she checked that day were not from the area. There was some non-compliance found within the AMA (ATV tracks on closed trails, see Fig 4). Figure 4: Rutted road from vehicles. Closed road within the Upper Elk Valley (UEV) AMA. Figure 5: Bingay Creek area-uev AMA 5

6 Figure 6: Blue Lake Recreation Site notice the ATV track within the lake. CO Burley patrolled Grave Prairie again on the 17 th due to other complaints from the public. She was able to conduct a road block on two intersecting roads within the closure (open roads) where she checked 16 hunters. She issued a ticket for a hunter who had a loaded firearm in his vehicle. CO Burley, Sgt Ashworth, CO Garay and Sgt Caravetta patrolled the Flathead Valley on September 21 to 22 for the weekend to conduct ATV and Truck patrols within the Upper and East Flathead AMA s. Guide Outfitters, trappers hunters, recreation campers and industrial workers were all contacted while on the patrol. There is a large amount of logging taking place in the southern part of the East Flathead AMA, which could have contributed to having lower numbers of hunters in the area compared to previous years. A new complaint came to the CO s attention during their patrols that resulted in an AMA and other Wildlife Act tickets. 6

7 Figure 7: The UTV was used during the patrol in the Upper Flathead AMA on McClachie FSR. Figure 8: Marker along the BC/Montanna border cutline in the East Flathead AMA. 7

8 Figure 9 and 10: CO Burley and Sgt Ashworth posted new closure signs in the cut blocks off of Maggot/Middle Pass Roads in the East Flathead AMA. A new concerning complaint came into the Fernie Office regarding the northeast end of the East Flathead AMA. On the Continental Divide (height of land between BC/AB borders) south of Pollock Creek there have been experienced dirt bikers accessing the mountain top from Alberta from mid to late September. They are accessing closed roads on the Alberta side into the BC closure as well. Not only is this an AMA offence but a concern for the wildlife and habitat on the height of land. Wildlife Biologist Irene Teske was made aware of this complaint and has been in touch with CO Burley and Alberta Lands Officer Jeff Smith. Irene voiced her concern for the Rocky Mountain Sheep that graze there. The Wildlife Act legislation that would be used against suspects would be the AMA charge and harassment of wildlife. CO Burley is meeting with the Alberta Quad Squad President and Directors, AB Land Officers and Blairmore Fish and Wildlife Officers on October 25th to discuss these concerns. It is in hopes that some money will be raised on the AB side to have Shell put a gate posted to help control access into the area from the AB side. 8

9 Figure 11: Google Earth Map showing where dirt bikers ride up to and then along the height of land within the East Flathead AMA. CO Burley also dealt with issues with AMA s, in particular public complaints in the Drinkwater and Wigwam AMA area, locks, gates and signs for closures. In addition she has helped local CO s deal with a noticeable increase in problem bear complaints in the Elk Valley. Figure 12: A little Elk Valley mud on the boots. 9

10 Figure 13: East Flathead AMA. September 22,

11 Statistics Figure 14: Current Summary of total time spent in the field up to September 30, Figure 15: Current Summary of statistics up to September 30, The filtered numbers are for the month of September. Figure 16: Current Summary of total outreach provided to the public up to September 30, 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. 11

12 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. Summary CO Burley s also spent some time following up with Human Wildlife Occurrence Reports (HWOR) when other CO s were not available (bear safety concerns or injured wildlife). In. addition, Officer time is taken up in the office to deal with any HWOR s, tickets, project reports or non-compliance investigations (photocopying, scanning etc.). CO Burley has been adding her time to the 2013 Excel spreadsheet when working on AMA investigations, the Outdoor Access Guide and working on the AMA Reports. 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 enjoys 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 September AMA Report or questions for CO Burley, she can be contacted at: RAPP Desk Cell patricia.burley@gov.bc.ca 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 2013 Stats for more detail of the Access Guardian s patrols and outreach efforts from January to October, 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. 12

13 The hunting synopsis is available in print and online ( The maps available from the MOE website are in colour and contain much greater detail. 13