Man lands $25,000 fine after destruction of snake habitat in LaSalle

A man has been ordered to pay $25,000 after being found guilty of destroying the habitat of an at-risk snakespecies, the eastern foxsnake,in Windsor-Essex.

According to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, the man had participated in and supervised land-clearing activities on undeveloped lots in the Town of LaSalle.

The lots aredesignated as areas of "natural environment" by the town and County of Essex making them unable to be altered or developed.

The properties are located nextto the Ojibway Tallgrass Prairie Heritage Park near Malden Road.There have been over 300 sightings of eastern foxsnakes within one kilometreof the undeveloped lots, the ministry says.

The investigation by the ministry revealed that from February 2022 to March 2022, the man had hiredcontractors to remove vegetation from these properties without approvals or permissions to do so, and participated in the efforts himself.

The ministry says thatshrubbery and rocks used by eastern foxsnakesto avoid predators and regulate their body temperature were removed in the process.

Additionally, the heavy equipment used for the vegetation clearing compacted the area's underground chamber system that the snakes use for re-emergence after hibernation, according to the ministry.

The man was convicted of one violation under the Endangered Species Act for "damaging or destroying" the habitat of a species on the Species at Risk in Ontario list.

The court fined the man $5,000 plus a victim fine surcharge of $1,250 and he was given 12 months to pay. The court also issued an order to the man requiring him to pay $20,000 to the City of Windsor, directed to the Ojibway Nature Centre.

The man was convicted in late April but the ministry announced the conviction in a media release on Friday.

Eastern foxsnakes, which are only found in Ontario within Canada, have been protected under the Species at Risk in Ontario list since September 2009.They are listed as athreatenedspecies.