Prince George, B.C. – A full complement of BC conservation officers will be out enforcing the rules this Canada Day long weekend.

“We’re going to be conducting patrols and other enforcement operations across the province,” confirms deputy chief Chris Doyle. “We want everybody to have an enjoyable and safe Canada Day long weekend and minimize the impacts on the environment and other users.”

He says part of that enforcement will include boat safety patrols.

“Ensuring people have all the proper safety equipment on their vessels and are operating them in a safe manner,” says Doyle. “We’re going to be conducting angler compliance and enforcement operations to ensure people are complying with the freshwater fish regulations.”

He says they will also be out patrolling the forests to help prevent either accidental or intentional wildfire starts.

“Including enforcement of campfire size restrictions in some areas and we’ll be conducting patrols in and around recreation sites and camp grounds to ensure that people are enjoying them in a safe manner and not having an impact on other users of the environment.”

And if plan on heading out on your ATV he says they plan on “doing some patrols to ensure compliance with the Off-Road Vehicle Act.”

So far in 2016 approximately 2,000 enforcement actions, charges and warnings have been issued and “we’ve had 63 convictions in court,” says Doyle.