Hunting season is just around the corner and new road corridor wildlife sanctuaries will impact hunters and help conserve wildlife populations in the Clearwater area.This year, the Clearwater Area will have six new road corridor wildlife sanctuaries: YaHaTinda, Forestry Trunk Road, Cutoff Creek, North Ram, Onion Creek Road and Nordegg. These six join the existing Kootenay Plains corridor, which remains unchanged.Hunting is prohibited in all road corridor wildlife sanctuaries. Additionally, the possession and use of firearms is highly restricted. These sanctuaries are within 365 metres (340 yards) of the centre-line of the designated roads. People travelling along these designated roads must ensure all weapons are encased and all firearms are unloaded. If hunters are crossing a road corridor sanctuary on foot to hunt outside the sanctuary, the firearm must be unloaded and the hunter must leave in a direct route.A road corridor wildlife sanctuary is established to conserve wildlife populations where a road passes through key wildlife habitats by providing wildlife with security while moving along or across the road. It provides hunters with access to the area, while reducing the hunting pressure on the animal populations.These regulations must be followed by everyone, including resident and non-resident recreational hunters and First Nation and MÈtis harvesters. Aside from no hunting, there are no other restrictions on land-use or forms of development.To find out where all the road corridor wildlife sanctuaries in the province are located, check Alberta's Annual Guide to Hunting Regulations. A description of all road corridor wildlife sanctuaries is listed there. It is the hunter's responsibility to know the regulations for the area in which they are hunting. Signs will be posted along the designated road to mark an area as a sanctuary.Visit www.mywildalberta.ca to view regulations online. Any new road that is designated as a road corridor wildlife sanctuary can be found at www.srd.alberta.ca.
