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Outdoor Corner - New cameras as a tool for wildlife law enforcement
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Denis Boisvert of Wesport Agricultural Services explains many businesses have signed contracts to move their businesses to Falher upon closure of the Girouxville railroad line.
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Gene Plihal
for Smoky River Express
As motorists we’ve often seen signs placed strategically at certain intersections proclaiming, “Traffic Laws Camera Enforced.” I know it has given me the incentive to double check my speed and stop for the yellow light. With the recent recession and dramatic drop in camera prices (I saw two wildlife cameras recently advertised for $99 each), the question arises: “How long will it be before cameras assume a bigger role in wildlife and trespass law enforcement?”
A number of land owners have already proceeded with installation of camera protection of their property. With farm size increasing, one land owner, a member of a Debolt family farm operation which has made significant land acquisitions in the Reno/Springburn area in recent years, recently told me that “It is physically impossible to monitor all of our land. We have so much that we can’t be watching all of it all of the time.”
Enter the omnipresent trail camera! Now Bushnell and a number of other companies are producing cameras that can be installed to monitor trails, land, gate entries, pastures and fields at a nominal cost. With gasoline close to a $100 per fill for a pickup, it is now more prudent to install cameras that operate up to 30 days on one set of batteries at the cost of one tank of pickup fuel. Plus, the cameras have the added advantage of placing time, day, month and year on the camera record of each photograph taken. Wildlife officers with this detailed evidence have next to a slam dunk for a prosecution of, let’s say, a trespass.
Infra red allows the camera to take pictures at night as well. Twenty-four hour monitoring of property is now possible at a fraction of the cost of a regular patrol. The added advantage to property owners is that some insurance companies will lower premiums on insured property if the owner can demonstrate that camera monitoring has been installed and is helping to protect livestock, buildings and other property. Insurance paid to property owners can then be recouped by insurance companies then pursuing the vandals or thieves with evidence that will hold water in a court of law.
With a camera noting specifics on each picture, it will be possible to crack down on illegal late hour or early hunting, illegal shooting from vehicles and from road allowances, trespass laws, vandalism, illegal party hunting and a myriad of other offenses. As one law enforcement officer Dave Barrett recently stated in a phone interview, “We already have cameras installed on all enforcement vehicles and we do put out trail cameras in certain situations.” Of course, legal hunters have nothing to fear and may welcome enforcement tools that will ensure that all will be hunting on the same playing field with the same rules in place.
As I write, Buckeye Cam out of Florida is now advertising cheap wireless Orion cameras that not only take pictures of virtually anything out in the field but also simultaneously transmit those pictures to one’s home computer which in turn can be transmitted to the Internet and, potentially, enforcement officials. Needless to say, this will render vandalism or theft of the camera pointless because the offender will be on camera and on the owner’s computer before he/she gets a chance to trash the camera assuming the offender can locate all of the cameras to start with. Add to this, some companies are producing decoy cameras to lure offenders away from the real thing while the offender is being photographed on the real thing.
Officer Barrett of the Peace River detachment states that the public eye still remains one of the best tools for enforcement. Citizens are advised to “take down details, license plate numbers and other specifics and call them in to Report A Poacher at 1-800-642-3800". He also suggests that citizens not confront the offender personally under normal circumstances. ”Leave the enforcement to us and we’ll even keep the informer’s name confidential." Plus, the added bonus, there’s the reward for successful prosecution.
With land prices escalating, significant clearing of land has occurred this past winter in the Reno area with hundreds of acres going before the bull dozer. Hence, what land is left for hunting in the region will experience increased pressure with the added temptation of hunting without permission. Cameras, public involvement and official enforcement should help to ensure what habitat and wildlife is left will experience a greater degree of monitoring and, therefore, protection.
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