Illegal dumping on Alberta Crown land prompts Fish and Wildlife crackdown

Alberta Fish and Wildlife is cracking down after receiving more than 100 complaints of people dumping appliances, vehicles and garbage on Crown lands.

More than 130charges and 176 written warnings have been issuedthis summer. Ron Wiebe, an inspector with Alberta Fish and Wildlife, says the problem is provincewide.

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"Anywhere that there's public lands, we tend to find some abuseof one form or another,"Wiebetold theCalgary Eyeopener."Whether it's someone dumping the television set and shooting it upor leaving a refrigerator or appliance or some sort."

Hefty fines

Along withhousehold items, Wiebesaid Alberta Fish and Wildliferoutinely find abandoned vehicles in fields and rivers. There arealsoreoccurring environmental issuescausedby garbageleft behind bycampers behaving badly.

"Problematic situations arise from people leaving food and garbage that animals can get into," Wiebesaid."Also, the absolute unsightly aspects of it."

Under the Public Lands Act, anyone caughtdumping garbage on public lands can be ordered to remediate the land or face fines as high as $100,000.

Alberta Environment and Parks Minister Shannon Phillips said enforcement officers are cracking down on offenders and anyone using public lands as "their personal dump."

"Respecting our wild spaces and leaving them in pristine shape is an Albertan thing to do," Phillips said in a statement.

Cleaning up the backcountry

Wiebe said volunteer groups have stepped up to help Fish and Wildlife keep the wilderness clean, like the Alberta Off-highway Vehicle Association, which performs a regular cleanup every May.

In June, a cleanupat Hilda Lake near Cold Lake led to the removal of two abandoned recreational vehicles and enough broken appliances,furniture andgarbage to fill four industrial-sized dumpsters.

Volunteers from the Turning Point Society of Central Albertahelped clean up a small island in the Red Deer River this summer, removingseveral propane and fuel tanks.

Even though Albertans are pitching in to help,Wiebe saidcleanup duties usually fall to the province despite a lack of funding for remediation.

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"The Government of Alberta will potentially pick up the cost on some of that [remediation] but they don't have a budget for it," Wiebesaid.

"So it makes it very difficult to finance the cleanup of vehicles, especially when they're a long way back."

Alberta Fish and Wildlife is asking Albertans to help fight illegal dumping by calling the Report a Poacher hotline at1-800-642-3800.

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With files from the Calgary Eyeopener