PARRY SOUND - Critics worry conservation officers forced to spend more and more time behind their desks will put area fish and wildlife at risk.

Those who believe the ministry is underfunded include conservation officers, hunters and anglers, along with MNR critic and Parry Sound-Muskoka MPP Norm Miller.

“I think the last few years, each year, it’s getting worse,” said Mr. Miller.

According to internal documents obtained by the Parry Sound North Star, last year ministry staff weren’t allowed to travel without permission unless responding to tips called in or to attend preset events like court dates. The Parry Sound area’s three conservation officers (COs) were also limited to a combined nine tanks of gas a week.

The document went on to say any other expenses – vehicle repairs, supply purchases or equipment - would mean even less money to fill gas tanks.

“You see, COs aren’t going out, because the budget has been reduced, they can’t afford to put gas in the trucks,” said Parry Sound District Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) president Mark McKernon when asked about cutbacks.“COs know their job. They need to be funded properly to do their job.”

When Jim Poirier started as conservation officer with the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) over 30 years ago, he parked his work truck in his driveway and left at all times of the day and night to do his job. By the time he retired in 2004, vehicles had to be kept at the office and today, budget restrictions make it even harder for officers to leave the office.

“I’ve been out of it three years now,” he said. “Of what I hear, what I read in the paper, (OPSEU) handouts, it doesn’t really impress me. I heard rumours last fall a lot COs weren’t in the bush because there was no gas for vehicles. And they’ve decreased the number of COs as the (human) population increases, there should be more COs.”

Mr. Poirier was a CO with the Parry Sound District MNR and worked out of the Bracebridge office until he retired.

Other COs said they were reluctant to say much on the record about their working conditions out of fears they would be fired.

With a funding level that keep COs behind the desks, the contact numbers – how often officers interact with the public – have decreased. According to the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), the numbers dropped from 281,994 in 2004/2005 to 263,116 in 2005/2006.

The partial numbers for the 2006/2007 budget year, provided by the MNR, put the number of contacts at around 194,000 at the end of last year.

Decreased contact numbers coincide with lower convictions, from 8,699 in 2004/2005 to 3,003 in 2006, as well as less fines collected, from $1,894,876 in 2004-2005 to $837,000 at the end of 2006,

Also, according to Conservation Officers Association President Dan Van Exan, every three conservation officers share two vehicles.

Not only are COs not leaving the office as often, but there aren’t as many. The MNR’s Parry Sound District branch, which includes Bracebridge, currently has six conservation officers, compared to the nine working alongside Mr. Poirier, prior to 1995. According to OPSEU, the number of COs in Ontario has dropped from 257 in 1992 to 173 as of July 2006.

Mr. Poirier recalls the days of being on the road, being seen and gaining the trust of area residents, all the while finding new roads, hunting camps and lakes to help him do his job even better. He and several other COs agree this is a very effective method of enforcement.

“It was always tips, they would give you tips,” said Mr. Poirier. “If I was (at home) when the call came in, I would jump in the truck and do my job. Toward the end, people in ministry didn’t like that the trucks were here (at home) to do our job. Their use was discontinued and the district manager decided to keep the truck at the office.”

According to the ministry, its enforcement branch’s March-to-March budget remained the same this budget year, at about $24 million, compared to the 2005/2006 budget year. The fish and wildlife management branch’s budget decreased from $64 million in 05/06 to $59.6 million this year. The ministry believes these budgets are enough to maintain the province’s resources: others don’t buy it.

The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) believes the fish and wildlife program budget alone should be at $120 million, almost double what it is today.

Gerry Haarmeyer, a provincial director with the OFAH and retired Sudbury conservation officer said that if there isn’t money for enforcement or management, area fish and wildlife are in jeopardy. That is because, he said, if there isn’t funding for COs to make sure illegal harvesting isn’t happening and the fish and wildlife branch isn’t properly funded to keep an eye on animals’ populations for issuing hunting tags, it could have a detrimental effect on the province’s wildlife.

MNR spokesperson John Maffei dismissed the argument and said staff other than COs keep track of animal populations.

Tracking animal populations is never an exact science, with or without more COs in the field, Mr. Maffei said.

“They (fish and wildlife branch) do take into consideration what they call ‘unknown mortality rates’, because how many do we know a wolf killed,” he said.

Mr. Maffei also said the COs are more removed from wildlife management than they were 30 years ago.

Mr. Haarmeyer pointed out that, with a budget staying status quo and the annual inflation of costs they actually have less money to do their jobs this budget year over last.

“A lot of them (OFAH members) are kinda upset about it, really upset,” he said. “They’re not seeing COs in the field.”

With these types of restraints and budget numbers, OPSEU set up an online petition entitled Save the MNR, which currently has 1,831 names. In December, MNR union members held bake sales across the province, including one in North Bay, to mockingly raise money for the floundering ministry.

Mr. Maffei said the ministry is still doing its job, just using resources better. In April of 2006, instead of basing enforcement on “local knowledge, tradition and culture,” the ministry put in place what it calls a risk-based operating plan unique to each district office.

The plan means ministry staff focus on activities that could affect the public the most and the sustainability of the province’s resources. To do this, the risk-based operating plans use information gathered since 1993 on where warnings were handed out or violations occurred, plus information gathered from calls to the TIPS line, which started in the fall of 2005. Mr. Maffei said this was a similar type of system used by police.

“We’re not just going out and driving here looking for someone who may or may not be creating a problem” he said.

Whereas COs used to get tips from the public while working in the field, they now come through the hotlines, Moose Watch and the TIPS line or when off the job.

“I know I get tips Sunday morning at church,” said Mr. Maffei.

According to the MNR, 486 people called the Moose Watch number in 2005, and 9,400 calls were made to the TIPS line between September 2005 and January 2006,

These alternatives to having COs working in the communities don’t sit well with employees with the MNR’s enforcement branch who spoke to the North Star. Some said they believe people are less likely to call the tip line, whereas they would previously have called the officer directly or passed information when they saw them out on the job.

Also, with COs only working eight-hour shifts while the TIPS phone line operates 24 hours a day, people could get discouraged when they don’t see timely responses, the MNR staff and their OPSEU representative said.

“Technically, that’s not true,” said Mr. Maffei. “Officers are scheduled seven days a week, and second, depending on what the incident and the tip is, we’re not necessarily responding anyway.”

Association president Mr. Van Exan said there are merits to both systems of gathering information about possible infractions. To him though, along with the risk-based operation plans, “there needs to be some officers to get out and beat the bush as well.”

Mr. Miller agreed with Mr. Van Exan’s stand, giving an example of the abuse of Crown land on Franklin Island in Carling Township where vandals spray painted rocks and lit fires.

“The only way to solve that is to have COs or some other peace officer (on the ground),” said Mr. Miller.

The impact of having fewer COs in the field isn’t yet known, said Mr. Van Exan.

“I don’t know what the affect will be long term,” he said. “There seems to be a change in the way we are doing business in intelligence-led business, it will take some time to see the affect.”

The provincial budget for 2007/2008 is set to be announced March 22. It’s the same day parliament is expected to debate MNR funding at the request of Mr. Miller.