Alberta launches new tattle line to nab badly behaved campers

The next time you see someone dumping garbage in the woods, or tearing up a riverbed with a quad, the province wants you to pick up your phone.

Alberta has expanded its 24/7 Report a Poacher line program to include a tattle line.

People who catch peoplebehaving badly on Crown land are encouraged to call and report the infractions to fish and wildlife officers.

"Just because of the population increase in the last couple of years, and a big increase in off-highway vehicles, there has been increased awareness," fish and wildlife officerSgt. Brian Voogd said during an interview with CBC Radio's Edmonton AM.

"Most people are very responsible, but we're doing a lot of stuff out there, we should be very careful about what we're doing, so we can keep our public lands available for future generations."

• Dial1-800-642-3800 toReporta Poacher

The line adopted its new mandate in the spring, andVoogd said numerous people havecalled in complaints.

"Four-by-fouring up and down stream beds, for example," he said. "There are allowances for quads and trucks to drive across these streams, but when people start driving up and down, and getting stuck in them, they're really disturbing the habitat and destroying fish spawning areas.

"And major littering events out in the woods, you know,people are out there for the long weekend and leave everything behind."

Though Albertans travelling in the back countryare encouraged to act as eyes and ears for officers,Voogd saidthe line should be reserved for only the most serious infractions.

"It gets over 10,000 calls a year, so it's an incredibly busy line already. And a lot of those calls are actually unnecessary, where we would prefer that people just wait and call their local office if they have a minorissue."

Land abuse fines for destructive campers can be as high as $1,000, and can even include jail time.