Police and the province are asking for the public’s help to stop illegal logging in River Lot 56.
Members of the River Lot 56 Natural Area Society say that someone has cut down at least 30 trees along the trails in the natural area over the last few months without permission.
“This is definitely illegal and it can be a safety hazard,” says Georges Binette, the society’s treasurer. The trees, many of which were still living, were cut about three feet off the ground and left lying across the trails or hanging precariously over them. Members have since removed the logs and the stumps.
The society has no idea who cut the trees, Binette says, or why they did it. “It’s not as if they are using the wood.”
The logger had not even notched the tree before cutting, he adds, meaning it could easily have fallen on top of them.
Binette did recover a cardboard sheath from a saw he believes was used to cut the trees. The sheath, now in the province’s possession, appeared to be from an aardvark saw, a slightly curved handsaw sold by Lee Valley Tools and commonly used for pruning.
The society has reported the matter to the Morinville RCMP, Binette says, who are investigating.
It’s illegal to cut trees on public lands such as natural areas without a permit, says Doug Bowes, spokesperson for Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation. His department, which oversees the river lot, is working with Sustainable Resource Development to determine the scope of the logging.
It’s disturbing that someone would cut down even one tree in this area, Bowes says. “Trees fall down all the time, but why would you go out of your way to create a hazard?”
This is not the River Lot’s first brush with vandalism. An elderly man with mental health issues was arrested but not charged in connection with a number of fires in the lot in 2008. Vandals have also cut holes in the fence surrounding it.
Anyone with information on this logging should call the RCMP at 780-939-4550.
