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Penalties increased for wood theft (01/06/18)

NB 582

June 18, 2001

FREDERICTON (CNB) - Life is now a lot tougher for wood thieves in New Brunswick. On June 1, amendments to the provincial Crown Lands and Forests Act raised penalties for people convicted of stealing wood for financial gain from Crown lands.

Criminals who are found guilty of stealing wood now face a minimum fine of $5,000. They also lose all wood cutting, hunting, angling and trapping privileges and could be banned from Crown land.

"The increase in fines and other deterrents, announced earlier this year, have reduced incidents of wood theft, because people are now thinking twice before heading out to steal wood," Natural Resources and Energy Minister Jeannot Volpé said. "Our enforcement staff is doing a great job and working harder than ever to catch wood thieves, lay charges and bring them to justice."

The department is one of several partners in the New Brunswick Coalition Against Wood Theft and Trespass. The coalition has developed a brochure and radio campaign to raise awareness about the problems of wood theft and trespass. An in-depth training session for RCMP and DNRE enforcement staff was held recently and a similar session has been scheduled for Crown prosecutors.

"Woodlot owners, farmers, the forest industry and government are working together to make life miserable for people who make a living stealing wood from private and public lands" the minister said. "Government has changed legislation to clamp down on wood theft on Crown lands and we are currently stepping up efforts to tackle the problem on private lands."

Thieves are stealing millions of dollars worth of wood from public and private lands each year. This activity not only robs landowners of valuable timber resources, it violates their private lands. Wood theft on Crown lands takes work away from legitimate cutters, robs taxpayers of valuable royalties and hurts the provincial economy.

Trespassers, particularly those in motorized vehicles, are damaging farmlands, woodlots, waterways and other properties. They are violating and disrespecting the rights of property owners. Trespassers are also destroying farm crops, disturbing and killing livestock, cutting fences, damaging forest resources and valuable machinery, dumping garbage and leaving vehicle ruts in fields and roads.

"Raising awareness through public information is an effective way to draw attention to these problems," Volpé said, "but it is also important for the RCMP and DNRE to carry out enforcement activities to get these people out of the woods and into the courts."

01/06/18

MEDIA CONTACT : Brent Roy, communications, DNRE, 506-453 2614.

01/06/18