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BC Conservation Officer Service
Access Management Compliance and Enforcement Program (AMCEP) May Report
Compiled by Conservation Officer Patricia Burley May 15-31, 2012
Grave Prairie AMA
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Introduction
This is the first year in 3 years that there is a designated Access Guardian in Fernie for a 6 month term from May 15-Nov 15, potentially for the next 5 years. Currently the Access Management Compliance and Enforcement Program (AMCEP) is the only Conservation Officer (CO) position in all of British Columbia. The CO’s priority focuses on Access Management for the 6 month period in the Regional District of East Kootenay’s Electoral Area A. Thank you to the RDEK, Columbia Basin Trust, other stakeholder groups and the Communities of Fernie, Sparwood and Elkford for making this position a success. CO Patricia Burley transferred to the East Kootenay’s on December 12, 2011 from the Peace Region. She started with the Conservation Officer Service in May 2009 and worked for Alberta SRD as a Seasonal Fish and Wildlife Officer in 2008. She worked with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Fire Operations as a Forest Fire Fighter for the previous 7 years. During those seasonal years she was living and working in Fernie within the ski industry. She is happy to call the East Kootenay’s home again. Since arriving in Fernie CO Burley has spent a fair amount of time with other East Kootenay CO’s to become familiar with some of the beautiful fishing lakes, rivers, campgrounds, hunting destinations, hiking trails, and of course many of the Access Management Areas (AMA). Patrolling in the East Kootenay’s during the winter season has made some of the backcountry access routes a difficult task. Patrols by snowmobile and truck were still conducted in many of the AMA’s through the network of open roads. Anglers were checked throughout the season on the Elk and Kootenay Rivers. Hunter and angler compliance checks were accomplished in the south country because of their lack of snow and having great cougar hunting and ice fishing opportunities. Problem wildlife is another priority that Conservation Officer’s look after. A female calf moose was tranquilized and relocated to a farm north of Sparwood with the assistance of CO Burley. The calf had been hanging around the airport area in Fernie since the late summer and had become a public safety risk. Winter is also a good time of year to complete some Provincial mandatory training. CO Burley was able to receive an Immobilization and First Aid course and trained CO’s in Avalanche Skills Training in Nelson. She also specializes in the Restorative Justice process used as an Alternative Measure to the court system. She was one of the CO’s that won the Premier’s Award in the partnership category. She travelled to Smither’s where she Co-Facilitator a Wildlife Act and Criminal Code Forum. The below is a video which can be viewed on the Restorative Justice Process on the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMn-xiK7s8M&feature=plcp&context=C4da39f3VDvjVQa1PpcFMkJuaNBUPgyKYWBpJBpXIt3KpDtzHHOwg During the snowy/rainy days in Fernie CO Burley created an AMA educational slideshow presentation which she has presented to a number of stakeholder groups. The AMA slideshow was given to the Mayor and Council members in Fernie, Sparwood and Elkford. Some of the other groups that received the presentation or an introduction were the AB Quad Squad,
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Elkford High School students and the Elk Valley Integrated Task Force Team. Outreach was provided to the Trout Hatchery open house, SRMMP stakeholders, AB SRD Forstry, AB Fish and Wildlife, TECK and Canfor. Fernie and Sparwood High Schools could not accept presentations during this school season due to the strike time restraints. It is planned to have all the high schools provided with the AMA and Mudbogging presentation before the May Long weekend in 2013. Fish and Wildlife Clubs, ATV Clubs and Snowmobile Clubs will still be provided with the presentation and introduction in 2012. Getting the AMA information out to the public by the Access Guardian was brought up as a priority by the stakeholder groups. Another task that CO Burley took on was to design an AMA Magazine with the Fernie Free Press that will have all the Electoral Area A Maps in it. It is hoped that the Newspaper will be printed before July 1/12. 6000 copies will be distributed throughout the East Kootenay’s along with another 2000 to be available for the public to pickup in AB, at the US border and in the communities of Fernie, Sparwood and Elkford. The COS will keep a stock to hand out while in the field as well. Meetings took place with the Fernie Free Press, Ministry of Forest Land Natural Resource Operations Spatial Information Analyst Andy Cagle, SRMMP Committee members and CO Burley with the updating, design and layout with the AMA maps. TECK has recently agreed to pay for the printing costs for the AMA Magazine. A big thank you to TECK for taking this on and helping the program complete some of its outreach targets. New online maps were uploaded onto the internet along with explanations how to download AMA maps onto GPS’s, iphones/pads and Google Earth.
Figure 1: Motorized Vehicle Closure sign that are put up in all AMA’s.
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Equipment had to be purchased through the AMA funds for a new officer to be equipped for the backcountry access work. Such items as first aid kits, an ATV repair kit, batteries, rope, waiters, booties, camera, camcorder, GPS, ATV goggles were all purchased during January 2012.
Statistics
Figure 2: Current Summary of time spent in the field up to May 31/12.
Figure 3: Current Summary of statistics up to May 31/12.
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Figure 4: Current Summary of Outreach provided to the public up to May 31/12.
Other Work Projects May 19-20: May Long Weekend Project with RCMP, Forestry C&E and CVSE on Lake Koocanusa. Long work days were associated with assisting the RCMP with an enforcement presence in the Baynes Lake area. It was the first year that Forestry put on a Fire Ban in the Lake Koocanusa area for public safety. Office time was associated with the paper work that came from working the busy weekend. May 29-30: CO Burley was the coordinator on the Bear Inspection Project with FLNRO Natural Resource Officers, Bear Aware and Wildlife Aware patrol the streets of Fernie and Kimberly for non compliance of bear attractants. New Wildlife legislation allows Officers to write a $230 ticket for people who leave attractants out where bears could access it. Office time was associated with writing a media article and the debrief report. AMA Project Plan: A number of CO’s will be focusing on the Area A AMA’s during a busy time of the year in the East Kootenay’s. Office time was associated with completing the proposed project plan. A Media Article for AMA information was released to Fernie, Cranbrook and Kimberly Newspapers. Riders West Magazine has been contacted to see if they are interested in printing AMA educational information. http://www.dailytownsman.com/article/20120614/CRANBROOK0101/306149996/-1/cranbrook/cos-
ask-users-to-respect-backcountry-trails
Summary Members of the public have contacted CO Burley since starting in Fernie with questions, comments and concerns on the AMA’s. CO Burley is continually working towards building new relationships with the public and other stakeholder groups to have more communication. The Communities in the East Kootenay’s have welcomed CO Burley’s presence and are overall supportive of the program. She will be continuing to work in the field and provide outreach
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and enforcement efforts within the AMA’s. A monthly report will be submitted at the beginning of each month. If you have any questions or concerns about the May 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 [email protected] 1621A 10th Avenue P.OBox 2788, 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 June 19, 2012. For an overall view of the area, the new Electoral Area A AMA Map is attached as well.
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Figure 5: AMA signs at Wigwam Flats, near one of the seasonal gate closures.
Figure 6: Closed trail in Grave Praire AMA that is being abused. 1 violation ticket has been issued for this area, many have educated.
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Figure 7: View of Wigwam Flats June 7, 2012.
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.
