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BC Conservation Officer Service

Access Management Compliance and Enforcement Program (AMCEP) July Report

Compiled by Conservation Officer Patricia Burley July 1-31, 2014

Wigwam Flats AMA, July 4, 2014

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Introduction

The July Access Management Compliance and Enforcement Program (AMCEP) Report is the second report for the 6 month period for 2014 completed by Conservation Officer (CO) Burley. This is the third year that CO Burley has been the designated Access Guardian in the Elk Valley from May 15-Nov 15. The AMCEP was developed in 2009, but did not have a set contract until 2011 for a potential 5 year commitment. CO Burley’s priority focus is on the Access Management Areas (AMA’s) for the 6 month period within the Regional District of East Kootenay’s Electoral Area A. Currently, the AMCEP is the only Conservation Officer (CO) position in all of British Columbia. Thank you to the RDEK, Columbia Basin Trust, other stakeholder groups and the Communities of Fernie, Sparwood and Elkford for making the essential program a success. The following information is some highlights from the month of July. During the July long weekend, CO Burley left an AMA trail camera posted on a closed road within Wigwam Flats AMA. CO Burley patrolled the area with the UTV on July 4th and retrieved the camera. While on the patrol she encountered a pickup truck driving on a closed road from the Wigwam River; they were anglers. CO Burley found out that they had driven in from the Rocky Ridge Road and were driving back out after fishing. The operator was issues a violation ticket and provided education. Once CO Burley was able to review the trail camera photo’s she found that there were ten different vehicles that were captured on the camera in the closed area during that time. Some of the plate numbers were not visible to identify. CO Burley investigated four of those files. On July 28th she issued 1 violation ticket and 2 warnings to three separate motor vehicle operators that admitted to driving on the closed roads. A warning ticket was issued to the forth operator later in August.

Figure 1: An area on wigwam flats that people take to get to Purple Canyon. Between June 15 and July 15 the Rocky Ridge Road and the Wigwam road are open for one month (figure 2&3). People believe that during that month they can drive through the middle of those two roads to complete a loop, this is not true. The middle section is closed year round

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for wildlife and habitat protection. Both roads are posted with yellow AMA closure signs. On July 20 the CO’s were given a tip from the RAPP line that there were two males trying to break into the Wigwam Rd closed gate; they were trying to break off the lock. CO Garay responded and was able to deal with the situation.

Figure 2&3: Left photo - Wigwam Road to the left, closed road to the right. Right photo – closed road off of Rocky Ridge Road. Notice that both roads are signed with yellow closed AMA signs. On July 5, 19 and 29 Grave Prairie was patrolled by the Fernie CO’s. This area was being logged during July so traffic activity was quite different from what it has been in the past. Some areas are unrecognisable. The swinging bridge area has not had its normal large groups of campers as the road is very rough from the flood in 2013. Grave Lake seems to be a popular and busy family camping location which is managed through the Sparwood Fish and Wildlife Association. The operators of the campsite have been handing out the Outdoor Access Guides to campers who have Off Road Vehicles (ORV) with them at their campsites. The Elk River has been a busy location for the CO’s to patrol as well. The river has been flowing clear throughout the month of July. While the CO’s are in the AMA angler checks are conducted along the Elk River; people are also educated on the AMA’s (figure 5). The main violations with anglers along the rivers are no classified licences, barbed hooks, treble hooks and the use of bait.

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Figure 4: Grave Prairie AMA; Elk River near the Swinging Bridge on July 5. Corbin AMA has been patrolled by CO Garay throughout July. Corbin is a popular location for anglers to camp because Michel Creek flows nearby. CO Garay has also been patrolling with a student/volunteer from Sparwood, who is attending Lethbridge College. He was able to experience compliance and enforcement checks along the creek with CO Garay on July 26. During that patrol CO Garay issued two violation tickets to anglers for illegal gear and no angling licenses. Soon, Corbin AMA will be like Grave Prairie AMA as it will be experiencing logging which should be commencing this late summer and fall. CO Burley and CO Deboon have patrolled Sheep Mountain AMA on July 2 and 4. CO Burley patrolled a closed road on the south end of the closure. Tracks on the trail indicated that it was being heavily abused (figure 5). There are a couple clearly visible yellow closed AMA signs upon entering the AMA. People are known to drive into this area not only during the hunting season, but for cutting fire wood throughout the year. CO Deboon found a truck parked on a closed road where a person was cutting and loading fire wood. A warning ticket was issued to the individual along with education and an OAG. The closed roads within the AMA are closed for the protection of the sensitive grasslands, as wildlife rely on the grass for their main food source during the harsh winter months (figure 6). Many people enjoy hiking in this beautiful closure; there are mountain views, prairie lands and river canyons to access by foot in this AMA.

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Figure 5&6: Closed Road and pasture within Sheep Mountain AMA. Alexander Creek AMA continues to be a very busy place for the CO’s to patrol. A number of the AB/BC passes are being abused; Deadmans Pass and the year round closed forestry road in Racehorse Pass. CO Burley encountered a group of lost ATVers driving out of Racehorse Pass on July 6. She spent a considerable amount of time going over maps and reviewing the OAG with them. She issued each operator a warning ticket. During that same patrol, CO Burley drove up the closed Deadman Forestry Road which was ditched last fall to help prevent access from motor vehicles during the hunting season. Someone had filled in the ditches making the road completely accessible by truck. It was reported to Canfor, who had completed the ditches. Canfor is trying to help prevent access onto the closed AMA road as it is classified as a deconditioned forestry road. CO Burley will continue to have communication with Canfor regarding that road. A problem area that CO’s discovered within Alexander AMA is the access behind the Crowsnest Pass Rest stop near the AB/BC border. Motorized vehicles (ATVs and trucks) have been driving through the BC Provincial Park on a trail into the AMA that connects to Phillips Pass. This area has been heavily abused. CO Garay encountered a group of non-residents that were driving on the year round closed trail on July 20. He issued 1 violation ticket and 2 warnings to the group. He also investigated an illegal camp trailer parked in the Provincial Park for a month. He gathered the information needed and passed it along to BC Parks who have since then evicted the camper with the support of RCMP. Squatting with trailers within Provincial Park boundaries is illegal.

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Figure 7: Alexander Creek AMA, Phillips Pass CO Burley patrolled Weigert AMA northwest of Sparwood. She had not received any complaints in this area to date, but she wanted to see if there was traffic driving into the closed area. A vehicle with two people was checked driving out of the AMA; they were on a drive to get photographs of wildlife. Tracks indicated that the area is not being heavily used at this time of year, in another 1.5 months that might be a different story (hunting season). The Outdoor Access Guide has been a successful tool in helping educate and inform the public within the Crownest Pass and East Kootenays on Electoral Area A AMA Maps. CO Burley has been able to establish $4700 to go towards the 2014 edition of the OAG from local Clubs and Stakeholder groups. The Elkford ATV Club, Fernie Trails Alliance, Fernie Rod and Gun Club, Sparwood Fish and Wildlife Association, Elkford Rod and Gun Club, Teck Coal and BC Recreation and Trails have contributed money towards the magazine. CO Burley is hoping to have the new copies out in September.

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Statistics

Figure 8: Current Summary of total time spent in the field up to August 5, 2014.

Figure 9: Current Summary of statistics up to August 5, 2014. The filtered numbers are for the month of July.

Figure 10: Current Summary of total outreach provided to the public up to August 5, 2014.

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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.

Summary The CO’s in the Fernie office have spent more time in the field patrolling as they can utilize their remote rugged lap tops to complete computer work while still being within an AMA. When the CO’s are in high visible areas, the public has been stopping to chat with them. Numerous wildlife complaints have come to the CO’s attention this way. RAPP calls continue to be reported to CO Burley and the other CO’s. CO Burley is more confident with where the problem areas are during certain times of the year and time of day. These efforts have resulted in more people being issued violation and warning tickets. CO Burley’s time was also spent following up with Human Wildlife Occurrence Reports (HWOR) when other CO’s were not available. Officer time is taken up in the office to deal with any HWORs, tickets, project reports or non-compliance investigations (photocopying, scanning ect). CO Burley has been adding her time to the 2014 Excel spreadsheet when working on investigations, the Outdoor Access Guide and working on the AMA Reports. The 2011-2014 monthly AMCEP reports and yearly summaries are now available online for the public to read. They can be viewed on the following website: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/kootenay/eco/accessmaps.htm 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 July AMA Report or questions for CO Burley, she can be contacted at: RAPP 1-877-952-7277 Desk 250-423-4264 Cell 250-423-1888 patricia.burley@gov.bc.ca 1621A 10th Avenue P.O Box 2877, Fernie, BC, V0B1M0

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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 2014 Stats for more detail of the Access Guardian’s patrols and outreach efforts from January to July 31, 2014.

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 (www.env.gov.bc.ca/kootenay/eco/accessmaps.htm) and the Hunting Regulations Synopsis. The hunting synopsis is available in print and online (www.env.gov.bc.ca/fw/wildlife/hunting/regulations/). The maps available from the MOE website are in colour and contain much greater detail.