The Royal Tyrrell Museum is concerned about damage from off road vehicles operating in Midland Provincial Park illegally.
This comes after intentional damage to the Encana Badlands Science Camp site was discovered.
The park, which surrounds the museum, is well marked with signs prohibiting motor vehicles. Despite this, individuals with quads and dirt bikes often use the park as indicated by tracks throughout.
Last Tuesday, following the May Long Weekend, Tyrrell Museum Science Camp personnel discovered damage to some of the infrastructure at the campsite.
“The teepees are not up but we have some of the other structures up,” said Jason Martin, Operations and Finance director at the Tyrrell Museum, saying there were quad and motorbike tracks discovered at the scene of the damage.
“The message we want to leave with the community is motor vehicles are not allowed in the park,” said Martin. “So if people see others riding in the park, they are not only joy riding, these quads are causing damage and should be reported to the RCMP.”
The Museum has since reported the incident to RCMP.
Staff Sergeant Art Hopkins said people riding could be charged with trespassing under the provincial statute and could face fines. If they were discovered to have caused willful damage, they could face mischief charges.
“Simply, there is no dirt biking or quad riding allowed anywhere in the valley,” said Hopkins.
Grant Santo, operation manager of Alberta Parks said penalties for using an off road vehicle in a park can range from fines to vehicle seizure under The Provincial Parks Act and Regulations. He says Park Officers have a peace officer designation so they are able to charge offenders under the Criminal Code of Canada if warranted.
For Martin, he hopes all can enjoy the park.
“It is disappointing, they are causing damage and we are having to take time to fix things that were already in place. We have a busy camp season coming, we certainly don’t want to jeopardize a service we can provide,” said Martin.
He adds there is an inherent danger of high-speed motor vehicles sharing paths with campers and pedestrians, not to mention noise and dust.
“It is not to be expected or permitted,” said Martin, “it’s a park and it should be enjoyed by the whole community.”
