Ahead of August long weekend, enforcement officials are reminding Albertans to call the report a poacher hotline to report serious public land abuses.
On July 21, an effort to clean up public lands around Fort McMurray cleared out more than 2,400 kilograms of debris from the Highway 63 Trout Pond, including a truck bed and an engine block.
This season, enforcement officers have made 27,000 contacts with the public resulting in 2,400 enforcement actions, prosecutions or written warnings.
Officials have also received complaints about the illegal dumping of 55 commercial air-conditioning units, half a dozen kitchen appliances and multiple abandoned vehicles on public land.
“Respecting our wild spaces and leaving them in pristine shape is an Albertan thing to do. While summer cleanup campaigns are underway, our enforcement officers are cracking down on individuals caught using public land as their personal dump,” said Shannon Phillips, minister of environment and parks.
Report a poacher 1-800-642-3800
The report a poacher hotline has already received 100 calls reporting public land abuses this year.
In addition to suspicious hunting and fishing activity, the 24-7 Report a Poacher line is used for serious public lands abuses like large amounts of litter or driving vehicles into closed areas, water bodies or sensitive alpine areas.
Individuals caught dumping garbage on public lands can be ordered to remediate the land or face fines of up to $100,000.
