Dear Editor,
Upon walking down to the river, I have discovered that many ATV users from the County of St. Paul and Two Hills have created a "trail" by driving their vehicles down the riverbank and along the waters of the North Saskatchewan River for over a mile, ripping up the sensitive riparian area of the bed and shore. I noted a number of ATVs proceeding along this "trail." This type of behavior is becoming more and more common, without ATV users considering the harmful impact of their actions, nor the legality.
Both the Alberta Water Act and the Alberta Public Lands Act are involved in the regulation of unauthorized and illegal activity on Crown land. Both Alberta Environment and Alberta Sustainable Resources Development have been informed, and are in the process of conducting their respective investigations into these offences, which may result in charges being laid.
If ATV users are going to disregard the law and destroy the environment for all of us, then they should pay the price. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. It is the duty of all of us to prevent any of this destruction and report it if we witness it, otherwise it will just continue. For the sake of our community and future generations, we cannot allow our environment to be destroyed.
Mitch Lavoie
County of Two Hills
