Officials with Alberta Parks are calling recent incidents of graffiti on Mount Yamnuska “unacceptable and disrespectful,” and are concerned with increased acts of vandalism on the province’s natural landscapes.
While graffiti isn’t an entirely new problem for conservation officers to deal with, at least three separate incidents of tagging were enough to prompt Alberta Parks to take to Twitter this week to remind visitors of the penalties they can face if they are caught defacing a mountain or park infrastructure.
“We have seen an unfortunate increase of graffiti written on some mountains this year,” one tweet stated.
“Defacing our natural treasures is unacceptable and disrespectful.”
The tweets state that anyone found “tagging objects in a park” could be “subject to a minimum $1000.00 fine and potentially court-ordered to remove the graffiti.”
However, depending on the severity of the crime, the penalty can be far greater, according to Bow Valley District conservation officer Andy Rees.
“The range is anywhere from $300 to $5,000,” Rees said. “But everything is based on what has gone on at the site, so it can go up to $100,000.”
According to Rees, removing graffiti from park facilities or items such as garbage bins can be done fairly easily, but unfortunately the same does not apply to rock faces.
“We have volunteers that will go out, or sometimes it’s park staff, and they’re out with wire brushes, or maybe using sort of chemical, but there’s a stain that goes along with that,” Rees said. “The rock will never be the same after it’s brushed off, so you’re always going to have this permanent scar.”
No one has been charged in the recent incidents, and Rees is asking the general public to contact Kananaskis emergency services or Crime Stoppers if they witness anyone defacing a mountain or park property.
“We really rely on the public if they see this kind of activity (to) report it.”
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