Quebec Fires Summer 2007

For part of the month of May and most of June, Manitoba Conservation deployed 6 NROs and 60 Initial Attack crew members to Quebec. Human caused fires in May resulted in one particular incident growing to 61,000 ha. Approximately 241 km of fireline comprised the perimeter. One lodge was burned down and another threatened (to approximately 30 meters proximity). Many out camps and private cabins were also burned. Forestry companies Abitibi-Consolde, Tembec and Domtar lost standing timber, harvested piles and plantations.

June's deployment was divided into Initial Attack and Sustained Action on several smaller fires for one Unit Crew and Sustained Action on a larger fire for the other Unit Crew.

Many different adventures presented themselves to the Manitoba Fire Fighters. Spectacular topography, wildlife sightings, cultural and culinary delights and a formation flying courtesy of Canada's Air Force.

NROs Colin McNairnay, Gerry Rosset, Jim Martinuk and Andre Desrosiers and all the Initial Attack Crew members thank Quebec for their hospitality and wish them the very best in this extremely difficult fire season. Merci beaucoup et bonne ete a la SOPFEU.

Commercial fishing infractions....a large part of an NROs job!

Officer experience, observations, production records and various forms of anecdotal evidence are some of the methods utilized to monitor the commercial harvest of fish from Lake Winnipeg. These parameters also suggest that the illegal trade of commercial fish species from Lake Winnipeg lies between once as much as the declared total to 3 times as much. In other words, the annual illegal harvest of commercial species from Lake Winnipeg is believed to be anywhere from 4.5 million kilograms to 15 million kilograms.

During a normal year, a number of convictions are entered as a result of commercial fishermen committing various infractions. Many pertain to exceeding quotas (often described as failing to comply with a condition of a licence).

On many occasions, the Crown will stay some charges to get guilty pleas on others. Below you can read general circumstances involving a number of different fishermen who were charged with various offences. The disposition is also included.

These charges were drawn up by officers stationed at Lake Winnipeg, Hodgson and Grand Rapids Districts. They are very time consuming therefore requiring officers to spend time in the office instead of patrolling and/or investigating incidents. Infractions may not be processed for months or even years.

• Offence Date -- October 30, 2004 Disposition Date -- March 16, 2006.....Trevor Monkman of Selkirk was fined $500 for being 699 kg over his quota (fish value of $2000).
• Offence Date -- October 16, 2004 Disposition Date -- August 11, 2005.....Nelson Hudson of Koostatak was fined $1000 for being 372 kg over his quota (fish value of $900).
• Offence Date -- January 15, 2005 Disposition Date -- January 3, 2006.....Peter Leger of Gimli was fined $274 for being 450 kg over his quota (fish value of $1058).
• Offence Date -- September 25, 2004 Disposition Date -- November 17, 2005.....Edwin Amos of Dallas was fined $350 for being 361 kg over his quota (fish value of $900).
• Offence Date -- October 30, 2004 Disposition Date -- January 3, 2006.....Hal Kurys of Gimli was fined $238 for being 391 kg over his quota (fish value of $900).
• Offence Date -- January 8, 2005 Disposition Date -- December 12, 2005.....Harvey Johnson of Riverton was fined $380 for being 477 kg over his quota (fish value of $1500).
• Offence Date -- October 11, 2004 Disposition Date -- June 29, 2006.....Brent Ballantyne of Grand Rapids was fined $1100 for being 420 kg over his quota (fish value of $470). Fine was to be paid before the next fishing season or his licence would be suspended.
• Offence Date -- December 13, 2005 Disposition Date -- June 29, 2006.....Walter William Cook of Grand Rapids was fined $1000 for being 855 kg over his quota (fish value of $952. His licence was suspended for 1 year.

Nev. (AP) -- It's not all checking hunting and fishing licenses.

Sometimes the issues are bigger. Like when a Nevada game warden was handed the chore of figuring out how to separate two bull elk who locked horns while sparring and couldn't untangle them.

The saga began Nov. 21 when a rancher in Reese River Valley spotted the two elk.

By the following day, the animals were gone and the rancher assumed they had separated.

A week later, according to Nevada Division of Wildlife biologist Tom Donham, the rancher was out looking for some of his cows and saw the elk again.

This time, he called the wildlife department and Donham, game warden Brian Eller and Bureau of Land Management wildlife biologist Bryson Code headed out to see what they could do.

When they reached Indian Valley, south of Austin, it was Nov. 29, one week after the elk were first seen.

"When we arrived where the rancher had last seen them, we found them pretty quickly. They were both lying on the ground and one of them was in a very uncomfortable looking position with his head directly above the others head and his nose pointing straight up to the sky," Donham said.

Eller said he wondered if they had survived their ordeal.

"Once we found out they were alive, I was hoping they couldn't move and would stay where they were. That didn't happen. When they ran off, I was hoping that they could not go very far. That didn't happen either," he said.

The elk may have been sparring at the outset, but Donham and Eller say they used teamwork to run for nearly a mile to evade the newcomers.

"It looked like they had been doing it all their lives; serious cooperation if I've ever seen it," Donham said.

After two unsuccessful attempts, Donham was able to get a tranquilizer dart into one of the elk. With one down, the other could not run, but was also partially tranquilized in order to separate the two.

Eller and Code helped hold the elk down while Donham used a hand saw to remove part of an antler off one of them.

"As soon as they were apart, the bull that hadn't gotten a full dose jumped to his feet and Bryson, Brian and I quickly gave him all the room he wanted. He went off about 30 yards and lay down for abou 10 minutes before finally walking up the hill and over the ridge, none the worse for wear" Donham said.

The other elk was treated with antibiotics and eventually walked off as well after the tranquilizer had worn off.

"If these two bulls had not been discovered, and we never got the call, they more than likely would have both died. Watching the bulls walk away, and knowing that we likely saved them from a slow death was definitely one of those moments that makes this job rewarding."