The Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority is calling in some backup to help protect local plant life and wetlands.
The LTVCA has enlisted the Municipal Enforcement Unit (MEU) to enforce several of the regulations that they have in place.
The LTVCA's Manager of Conservation and Land Services Randall Van Wagner says some of that enforcement includes investigating damage that's caused by recreational vehicles like ATVs -- adding MEU officers will be able to hand out tickets and lay charges.
"They (ATVs) put stress on wildlife, they damage the trails, the vegetation," says Van Wagner. "A lot of these areas have rare and endangered plants and animals and ATVs are causing a lot of damage in some of them."
Van Wagner says one area they'll be keeping an eye on in particular is the Mosa Forest near Bothwell -- also known as Skunk's Misery.
"It's only certain ones -- properties like C.M. Wilson where there's campers and the general public are out there you don't see an ATV problem," says Van Wagner adding most of their problems with ATV riders are in the more rural areas.
Van Wagner also notes that this has been an ongoing issue for a number of years -- he hasn't seen a noticeable increase since the ATV Bylaw was passed in Chatham-Kent, which allows ATVs and similar vehicles on most rural roadways in the municipality.
But damage caused by ATVs isn't the only thing the MEU officers will be looking out for. Van Wagner says they'll also be conducting several blitzes and visits to different properties throughout the course of the year.
Those visits will include monitoring development in hazardous areas due to flooding and shoreline erosion and investigating trespassing incidents.
The LTVCA is hiring the private company because they don't have enough staff to do the job themselves.
"We have a really long and narrow watershed that runs from down near Comber in Essex all the way up to this side of London," says Van Wagner. "It's going to be great having this unit on call -- it'll go a long way toward making these places enjoyable for the rest of our residents."
