The Working Forest Newspaper

Logger remediates fish habitat near Mattawa, ON

January 26, 2012

By: Working Forest staff

In North Bay court recently, the contractor and his subcontractor pleaded guilty to the Fisheries Act charge of doing work that damaged fish habitat by illegally depositing sediment into the water.

Landowners hired the loggers to harvest trees at a Calvin Township lot for sale to lumber mills. The township's road supervisor warned workers not to cross Little Pautois Creek creek and they failed to do that, the prosecution claimed.

Little Pautois Creek runs into Pautois Creek and is habitat for brook trout, and most of the trees to be harvested were located near the water.

The contractors were each fined $500. The sub-contractor was ordered to pay $3,000 to the Greater Nipissing Stewardship Council which protects and restores fish habitat and raises awareness about natural resources.

The prime contractor was ordered to pay an additional $1,500 to the environmental group as credit for spending $8,000 to remediate the site.

So for doing little or nothing, the environmental group gets $4,500 of hard-earned money from the contractors.  The stream is already repaired and the only thing damaged is the good reputation of the forest contractors.