Enjoy the Weekend, But Obey the Rules

Friday, May 21, 2010 03:59 AM

Prince George, B.C.- We may be heading into a long weekend, but that doesn't mean you let your guard down when it comes to obeying the rules on forest service roads, at campgrounds, or on the water. Minister of the environment, Barry Penner says there will be "compliance" checks this weekend to make sure everyone is "playing safe."

The Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Forests and Range, the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts and the RCMP are teaming up to patrol recreation sites and forest service roads to ensure people are enjoying recreational activities
safely and responsibly.

"These patrols will help protect public safety and the health of B.C.'s environment," said Environment Minister Barry Penner. "We want people to use ATVs and other recreational vehicles in a responsible way without causing harm to themselves or the environment. We also want to remind everyone that it is illegal to litter and that it is their responsibility to properly manage food and other attractants to prevent conflicts with wildlife."

Since the May long weekend is typically one of the busiest recreational weekends of the year, compliance and enforcement officers, recreation officers and RCMP officers will be conducting patrols of recreation sites and forest service roads in several regions across the province. The goal is to ensure compliance with public safety and environmental regulations in relation to off-road vehicle use (ATVs, 4X4s, dirt-bikes), camping, boating and fishing. Recreation sites with repeat problems are being targeted for extra enforcement. Officers will be giving out warnings or tickets to those who are not in compliance.

"Long weekends are a great time to enjoy our forests, but they are also a time of increased patrols," said Forests and Range Minister Pat Bell."Enforcement staff will be looking for off-road vehicle users who damage our forests, and holding them accountable."

Environmentally sensitive areas such as grasslands, wetlands, streams, hillsides and alpine lands which provide critical habitat for plants and animals can suffer long-term damage from a single use of a motorized vehicle. Recreational vehicle users are encouraged to respect the environment and stay on authorized roads, trails, and designated motorized vehicle areas.

Last year, Ministry of Environment compliance and enforcement actions resulted in a total of 34 court convictions, 2,181 tickets and more than $1.1 million in fines.

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Posted on Friday, May 21, 2010 03:59 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: acrider54 on May 21 2010 5:29 AM

Too many rules

Posted by: whitewater on May 21 2010 6:10 AM

One could also argue that there are too many idiots.

Posted by: BCRacer on May 21 2010 6:20 AM

and because of the idiots there are the rules.
Hope everyone has a great weekend all.

moral or the story ...If you don't want a ticket...follow the rules....
It really isn't that hard....
except for those who feel they are "SPECIAL" and the rules don't apply to them....and those I hope get many many tickets.

Posted by: He spoke on May 21 2010 7:51 AM

OK, its only this weekend we have to follow the rules, so be nice.

I opted out to go out, I think, its gonna be that drowning rat feeling.

Posted by: BCRacer on May 21 2010 8:17 AM

I hope that was tongue in cheek He spoke...
and yes it could be a soaking weekend...

Posted by: northman on May 21 2010 10:30 AM

I work for one of the above agancies doing enforcement which i will not disclose here. My comment here is based more on personal observations when im out enjoying my weekends.
All i have to say is that im disgusted by the actions of a few which have created all these restrictions and increased enforcement patrols.
All one has to do is pick a side road close to an active urban or residential area to witness the dumping of..
Cars
Fridges
Freezers
Diswahsers
Pet Carcases
Moose/Deer/Bear carcasses
Cattle Carcasses
House hold garbage
Oil drums/contaniers
And much more..

In some cases i have witnessed whole rec sites destroyed with fires abandoned during extreme fire ratings. This our tax dollars you are destroying!!

Although my job is to document these things i have lived here for 30 years having grown up in a rural area activly practicing recreation. The last two years have been by far the worst two years i have ever witnessed for what i have mentioned above..

People also forget that other people are a part of the envirnment as well. Have some respect PG for the people and enviroment PG-- Clean up your act.

And Thank you to the people out there that do care.

Posted by: Stompin Tom on May 21 2010 10:42 AM

northman,

I have see pretty much all of what you speak, the disposal of peoples crap, you forgot to mention cars in your list.

It does lead me to one conclusion, not all encompassing but a trend I have noticed. The local land fills have made it much harder to dispose of many of these items.

If there was a way of disposing allot of this stuff without a cost to the consumer, one would think it would lessen up on the rouge dumping.

Posted by: Loki on May 21 2010 11:18 AM

cars are the first item on his list tom.

What amazes me is finding this stuff laying around the bush, even close to designated sites. These folks go through a lot of trouble to litter the country with: CARS, appliances, metal and plastics. on top of that I have found sites where it seems there is a long history of dumping in that location.

Posted by: BCRacer on May 21 2010 11:32 AM

cars should be able to be traced back to the owner...isn't that what the serial number is for?
so he sold it...who too?

Posted by: metalman on May 21 2010 12:56 PM

I agree, Northman, the lowlifes who dump their waste items in the bush are beneath contempt. If caught, they should face heavy fines. Tom is right about the local landfill and transfer stations thing, but I am sure he would agree that there is no excuse for dumping garbage behind the nearest convenient grove of trees if the facilities are closed. The fact is though, lowlife twits were dumping all the same items in the bush thirty and forty years ago, at a time when you could drive to any one of the landfills or dumps in the region and get in at any time of the day or night, there were no gates, no restrictions, and still people dumped things anywhere they pleased. That sort of person is psychopathic, they do not care about their fellow man, they are antisocial, and they are lazy. If you are getting the impression that I feel strongly about this topic, you may well be right.
metalman.

Posted by: acrider54 on May 21 2010 1:42 PM

We have the same person or persons in our neighborhood who throw either their Tim Horton's or MacDonalds garbage whatever the fare of the day is out the window of their vehicle in the same spot at least once a week. Just a bunch of uncaring pigs.

Posted by: Stompin Tom on May 21 2010 5:47 PM

ahh yes, cars, right before fridges. As the friendly giant used to say, look up, waaaaay up.

Posted by: supertech on May 21 2010 7:40 PM

I also know that it is the actions of few that make it tough on the rest of us. The so-called justice system is not set up to punish the guilty;only the innocent. We know where the crap is being dumped but enforcement can't afford a camera at that site? Why is more legislation expected to cure the issue?? It isn't -- it is legislating the rest of us into submission. It is the way of Liberals, NDP and any other socialist government. It will inevitably end in communism where they will use physical force rather than legislation.