Use extreme caution when riding at long lake

[roadtech]

Well FolksI have written many articles on and about Long Lake but this one saddens me the most.I have been made aware of an incident that happened during the Christmas break at the lake. There is an area now just north of the cabin area that will soon be a gravel pit, A localgravel company has received a permit to take gravel from an area adjacent to the lake, I'm not happy with it but it is legal. Getting to my point, on the 29 of December three Long Lake family members were stopped by ARMED secuity guards hired by this local gravel company , presenting loaded long barrel guns. in the area approx three km from the cabin area, an area that I have quadded and snowmobiled in since 1981. Now this seems hard to believe, but it is on file with the Boyle RCMP. This family was in the area during the evening so it was dark, and I'm sure these secuity guards are doing what they are getting paid for, protecting some ones property, so they scared the crap out of them and I'm sure they will not go back there. So the long and short of this is, stay the heck away from the north end of Long Lake or you may find a loaded shot gun pointed at you. Will not see you on those trailsDon

Further to this incident
There was two persons charged as a result of this event, I would hope this has tempered the security personnel that is in the area guarding the property.
So folks please stay clear of any posted property north of the cabin area, play safe!
See you onthe trails
Don

 

[tmix]

yikes!!

 

[jimmyjambo]

Thanks for the heads up!!

 

[overkill131313]

gravel pit or grow room? who has guns to protect a gravel pit?????

 

[kbrunlees]

Which area is long lake in, and what is so valuable that it requires people to be armed. Is this or was crown land?

 

[linksys]

I recall hearing that some of their equipment has been tampered with. That may be the reason for the guards...watching the equipmenet.....not the gravel.

 

[DRD]

Did they point their firearms at the people?
Armed guards are not common, Brinks, Securicor, Nuclear plants etc.
What was the name of security company?

 

[magnet]

gravel pit or grow room? who has guns to protect a gravel pit?????

especially a gravel pit that is not even operational yet. kinda sounds wierd like more to the story than what the po po are letting out.

 

[etecheaven]

i know the owner of JLG ball personally and i know that the company has had some bad luck with vandals in the past. Its gets pretty expensive when somebody puts rocks and sand in your engine.

 

[magnet]

i know the owner of JLG ball personally and i know that the company has had some bad luck with vandals in the past. Its gets pretty expensive when somebody puts rocks and sand in your engine.

no kidding but by the sounds of it the pit is not even started yet so there would be no equipment on site anyways. if it is started already and equipment is on site then that is a somewhat undrstandable situation. not sure pointing loaded firearms at another person is the correct approach but hey it gets the point across i guess, with no doubts into proper interpretation.

 

[mudboy]

Well Don
Looks like we may have our work cut out for us to find a new trail
Seems like our access to the once awsome area keeps getting hardar and harder to get to. Between the fences coming up for pastures and the gravel pits going in, it soon won't be long tll we can no longer ride out there.

 

[Oilboy]

Ya we will defiantly need a new trail now I've been riding that area on quads and sleds since I Was born, Might need a few guys and a couple weekends with chainsaws to make ourselves a new trail. There's lots of ways around the pit by it will require some work.

 

[fargineyesore]

i know the owner of JLG ball personally and i know that the company has had some bad luck with vandals in the past. Its gets pretty expensive when somebody puts rocks and sand in your engine.

That's no reason to be scarring the crap out of people who are just going for a ride. No one else in this country is allowed to run around with guns intimidating people, what makes his gravel operation so special.

 

[fargineyesore]

Well FolksI have written many articles on and about Long Lake but this one saddens me the most.I have been made aware of an incident that happened during the Christmas break at the lake. There is an area now just north of the cabin area that will soon be a gravel pit, A localgravel company has received a permit to take gravel from an area adjacent to the lake, I'm not happy with it but it is legal. Getting to my point, on the 29 of December three Long Lake family members were stopped by ARMED secuity guards hired by this local gravel company ., presenting loaded long barrel guns. in the area approx three km from the cabin area, an area that I have quadded and snowmobiled in since 1981. Now this seems hard to believe, but it is on file with the Boyle RCMP. This family was in the area during the evening so it was dark, and I'm sure these secuity guards are doing what they are getting paid for, protecting some ones property, so they scared the crap out of them and I'm sure they will not go back there. So the long and short of this is, stay the heck away from the north end of Long Lakeor you may find a loaded shot gun pointed at you. Will not see you on those trailsDon

Is there a legal land description or GPS point you can provide. I ride out there sometimes (when enough snow) and would like to examine the nature of this company's crown disposition and the extent of it. If he has an actual lease, he can deny access, but if he just has a license or just an exploration permit, he cannot. I have mapping I can look at to see what is registered with the crown there. Sometimes, people get permits from the crown and then act like they own the land, thinking they have more authority than they do. Let's see if that is the case here.

 

[mudboy]

The background to this is that JLG Ball has a gravel pit on the south end of Amisk Lake along the road. Someone went into their property and burned up about a $150,000.00 piece of equipment which remains unsolved dispite a reward of about $10,000.00. My numbers may not be right but I can understand their need to protect their property now.

 

[DRD]

Why is it someone with guns can protect a gravel pit or a bag of money but my wife can't even pack a taser or mace (let alone a firearm) to protect herself and the kids???

 

[fargineyesore]

According to some GPS Coordinates I was provided, the owner of the Surface Materials Lease (SML) area just south of the old pit is Athabasca County. Not sure if they are the ones developing the pit or they have someone else doing so. About 200 metres to the west of the old pit, there is an 08 SML awarded to a Boyle company, same ones as noted above. They have a lease for gravel extraction, and just to the NW of that, they have a MLL (lease) for the processing. Both of their areas are to the southwest of the entrance into the old pit. They have the right to keep people out of their lease boundaries, but their lease, as I said is west of the old pit, so not sure if they are patrolling only their lease, or the Athabasca County SML as well. Someone should ask Athabasca County if they've hired or given someone permission to patrol on their lease with firearms. I'd fine it unlikely. It may be that the security guys or their employer either doesn't know their own lease boundaries, or have been hired by the County. Either way, unless they've been hired by the County in some fashion, they shouldn't be patrolling where the old pit is. I'll give a bit more info to the guy that pm'd me, but that's what I've found. By the way, you should be aware that all of the area on the west side of the lake from old pit south and north a ways is being explored for gravel or there are existing leases that just haven't been developed yet. As well, there is an exploration permit for a large area on the east side of the lake in this area as well.

 

[roadtech]

fargineyesore, that makes sense to me now, there has been someone on a Cat driving all over the place on the east side with the blade about 3 feet off the ground. It is the area where the county of Thorhild took gravel about 8 years ago

 

[fargineyesore]

That would most likely be him. If he finds what he thinks are significant deposits, he may apply for a Surface Mineral Lease or License, but it will take him from time of application until approved at least a year, but usually takes a couple years to approve. Unfortunately, that area around the lake, if it has a lot of gravel, is going to be busy in future, unless someone can think of an environmental reason not to extract it. The government doesn't usually listen to opposition based on recreational activities as the gov't is in the business to make money in this province.

 

[win]

Weird... When was it legal to carry guns to protect any property, unless your police or armed troops, sounds kinda BS to me