A lockdown of a public section of land last summer has helped calm dangerous and illegal activity, but residents in the Echo Lake area say there’s still room for improvement.
It’s been nearly a year since allegations of anti-social and dangerous behaviour at a quarter section of public land in Westlock County’s southeast corner, dubbed the Westlock ‘war zone’ came to the attention of the public via a two-part series in the Westlock News.
Alberta Environment and Parks (AEP) subsequently shut down the land at SW19-TWP59-RGE23-W4M, for 28 days beginning on June 26, 2015.
By all accounts the closure helped tone down shooting and off-highway vehicle activity last summer, and its effect has carried forward into this year, but the problem is far from solved.
“It’s been better. Are they anywhere near adequate? Not in my opinion and not in the opinion of a lot of people that I talk to in the area,” said area resident Richard Desmet.
Like many others, Desmet says he still deals with trespassers that meander onto adjacent private land, including his own, on a regular basis.
“Instead of getting three or four trespassers a month, we’re maybe down to one and instead of getting a whole bunch of shooters out, the noise levels have gone down,” he said.
“They’re still there and they’re still active and there’s still bullets whizzing around.”
Westlock County Div. 1 Coun. Ron Zadunayski said in speaking with those near the area, the general sentiment is that there’s been improvement.
“They’re much better. I’ve talked to the residents and I’ve been up there,” Zadunayski said, adding that no-trespassing signs have also helped clear some unwanted guests.
“As soon as anybody drives in there, the people take off. Before, they were camping in there, shooting in there … spending weekends in there.”
That said, Zadunayski isn’t proclaiming victory just yet.
“It’s still not perfect. We do get some complaints, but it’s a lot better,” he said.
Echo Lake area resident Bevin McNelly also said he’s noticed general improvement, but wants the county to install better signage.
“It’s way better than it has been, but there’s room for the county to take it another step farther,” he said.
“I’d like to see them put signs down there basically stating there is absolutely no shooting, no ATVs while there’s a fire threat.
“I think it would work very well actually.”
Zadunayski said the county is in the midst of getting sturdier signs to replace old ones that have been damaged, defaced or removed.
Accounting for some of the improvement is public awareness, but also increased presence from law enforcement including RCMP, Fish and Wildlife officers and county peace officer Erik Nickolson.
“We definitely go back there and check on things,” Nickolson said.
“The problem is when we go back there and you talk to the people shooting and they say they’re going to clean up their mess, but you have no way of knowing if they did.”
A county road allowance leading into the public lands has been closed off with a gate, Nickolson said, meaning anyone wishing to access the grounds, legally, has to walk.
While people do still find their way to the area, it too has mitigated the overall problem.
“I think people aren’t wanting to go back in there because they can’t take their vehicle back,” Nickolson said.
Residents, like Desmet, appreciate the county’s enforcement, but question its effectiveness.
“I’ve met [Nickolson] and think he does an honest job, but he’s one guy and Westlock is a big area,” Desmet said.
A province-wide fire and off-highway vehicle (OHV) ban this spring due to extremely dry conditions proved to be an effective measure in the Echo Lake area.
Nickolson said during patrols of the area during that time, it appeared many quadders took the message to heart.
“During the May long weekend and before that with the fire ban, I’d say it was pretty slow,” Nickolson said.
“I think people were legitimately concerned about fires. People were pretty well behaved.”
McNelly agreed that the province-wide ban was a success.
“That totally shut everything down out there,” said McNelly.
“I think with the province doing what they did, the publicity on the radio and television, that scared people enough that they did not go out there.”
From what his constituents passed along to him, Zadunayski also felt the provincial OHV ban had a profound effect on Echo Lake.
“It’s been a lot better,” Zadunayski said.
But since then, residents have noticed people were quick to return to the area as soon as the ban was lifted.
“There’s been a little bit of shooting but not nearly as much,” McNelly said.
“I’d say only about 10 per cent of the shooting that was going on before. There’s still a lot of action with quads.”
Ultimately, AEP is responsible for the public land in the county and all other Crown land in the province.
AEP maintains that it’s the people’s right to use Crown land, but in turn ask for the public’s cooperation.
“Activities such as hunting, target shooting, OHV riding, hiking and camping are activities permitted on this and many areas of public land,” said Darrell Kentner, approvals manager for AEP’s Upper Athabasca Region, in an e-mailed statement.
“We ask Albertans to exercise caution and respect when partaking in these activities on public lands, to be aware of noise and wildfire, and safety concerns when using, firearms, and ATVs on public land, especially in those areas near rural residential properties.”
Zadunayski said the county has tried to lobby the government for more control over Crown land
“I feel that the province needs to give the counties more jurisdiction on what goes on, on Crown land,” he said.
“I’m not talking about hunting and things like that. I’m talking about some of the abuses and the quads on there.”
The county has attempted to pass motions at regional Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties meetings, but haven’t been able to garner the support of other municipalities to take it to the provincial level.
While no answers have been found just yet, Zadunayski said officials seem willing to talk. He said it’s just a matter of time before the problem gets out of hand, forcing the government to intervene.
“I think this government is more receptive. This problem is becoming obvious in many different places,” Zadunayski said.
“They’re fighting fires, which are caused by some of theses vehicles. I think the province is really taking a hard look at it.”
In his statement, Kentner explained that AEP is aware of continued problems at the quarter section and said the government is looking into the situation.
“We are again reviewing options pertaining to this vacant public land, but we are unable to comment further at this time,” Kentner said.
