Tips line deemed a success

The public is helping protect Ontario’s natural resources by phoning in more than 5,000 potential violations to the tips reporting line, Natural Resources minister David Ramsay announced last week.
“The response from the public has been tremendous,” said Ramsay. “Ethical hunters, anglers, and the public have called in to report resource abuses, and that helps protect our natural resources and support our compliance efforts.”
Fish and wildlife violations make up 71 percent of calls to the tips line. Land and water violations make up about 20 percent while other violations make up about nine percent of the calls.
Calls to the MNR tips line have led to 1,410 investigations and 86 convictions.
One of the larger fines collected was $10,500 in an illegal deer hunting case.
Launched one year ago, the toll-free tips line—1-877-TIPS-MNR (847-7667)—operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week year-round.
Anyone who sees a natural resource abuse involving fish and wildlife, forests, parks, aggregates, or public lands is asked to call the line and report it.
The information provided may assist conservation officers in their ongoing investigations.
The public also can report natural resource violations anonymously to Crime Stoppers—a long-time partner with the MNR—at 1-800-222-8477.
The ministry lays between 8,000 and 10,000 charges yearly for natural resource violations.
The MNR tips line is one way the McGuinty government is protecting Ontario’s natural resources. Others include:
•launching Ontario’s first biodiversity strategy to protect the province’s plants and wildlife and the habitats that support them;
•protecting more than 1.8 million acres of greenspace in the Greenbelt, providing safe habitat for 66 species at risk; and
•passing the new Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves Act to strengthen the laws that protect Ontario’s provincial parks and other significant natural areas.