Saskatchewan company fined for illegal import of pine logs

A Saskatchewan company, Landrider Trux Ltd., was fined over $9,700 for illegally importing pine logs with bark from Alberta, violating rules designed to protect the province’s forests from the mountain pine beetle.

The logs, which originated in Sundre, Alberta, were seized and burned after a caller to the Turn In Poachers and Polluters (TIPP) line alerted authorities.

The movement of pine logs with bark is prohibited under a Minister’s Order issued in 2008 to prevent the spread of the beetle, which has devastated forests in British Columbia and Alberta. No mountain pine beetles have been detected in Saskatchewan’s northern forests to date.