The Wild West of Ghost River and Waiparous could soon be coming to an end.
The area may not exactly be lawless, but its reputation has become well-earned as the place to watch your step as spent shell casings can easily outnumber empty patches of grass.
Alberta’s Ministry of Forestry and Parks has put a ban on shooting for a section of the public land use zone (PLUZ) until at least the end of September with a temporary firearm use restriction.
The move puts a brief moratorium on an area that can more closely resemble a 19th Century western shootout rather than its intended recreation-based land use.
What the next steps are after the restriction can be lifted is largely unknown – something that needs to be clarified by the provincial government sooner rather than later – but the need for safer and more prohibitions on gun use is necessary.
After several years of advocacy, the Municipal District of Bighorn and user groups have received on paper a reprieve on reckless firearm use. Of course, enforcing and managing such use is far more difficult than it is to put in place such a restriction, particularly when municipal and provincial resources are already stretched thin.
Like much of the region, the territorial jurisdiction of the Ghost PLUZ is similar to a bowl of spaghetti flipped upside down. It can often lead to government agencies trying to pass the buck in the hope it becomes someone else’s problem.
Though it’s in the MD of Bighorn, the province officially manages the area that’s near highly visited and sought-after areas such as Kananaskis Country and Banff National Park. It’s also a short drive from large population centres such as Calgary, Airdrie and Cochrane, while the boys from Red Deer are always eager to make a trek to let loose a couple of rounds.
The sparsely populated region – mainly an area for forestry, agriculture and recreation – has seen unsafe weapon use largely get out of control as the province has provided few resources to properly manage the area. The resources that are sent out are sorely lacking and put any enforcement in an unenviable position to fail.
The stories have long been infamous in the Ghost River and Waiparous area, but pose a significant safety risk.
Previous incidents have seen 18 pounds of Tannerite cause an explosion heard five kilometres away in 2013 and in 2017 a gender reveal party using Tannerite kickstarted a 46,000-acre fire that caused several million dollars in damage.
Recent years had the Ghost River fire department respond to a grass fire due to an exploding target, with shooters continuing to let loose as firefighters worked nearby to put out the fire.
Firefighters responding to a wildfire shouldn’t have to worry about potentially dodging bullets to put out flames, while volunteers collecting waste such as old barbecues and electronics such as TVs and satellites used for target practice limit their ability to work on maintaining other aspects of the PLUZ.
Conservation officers and police attempting to enforce and outdoor guided tours and people trying to enjoy the recreation area have equally all had to mind where they go due to unsafe conditions that are seemingly getting worse.
It also ends up spending valuable resources to have emergency responders called out for what would otherwise be unnecessary events and volunteers who clean the same spots time and again that could be better spent on other tasks.
The majority of firearm owners are responsible and use proper safety, meaning a few bad apples creat a poor reputation got all users.
Though a brief pause has been put in place, it’s likely the region will continue to have to push for safer and lawful gun use in a situation that has long since gotten out of hand.
Alberta has long prided itself on having a Wild West culture, but steps and a plan are needed to reign in what can be an out-of-control situation.
