A Maple Creek company has been fined for illegal log imports. A media release from the Environment Ministry says Landrider Trux Ltd., a firewood, logging and sawmilling operation, was fined just over $9,700 after illegally importing pine logs from Alberta. The Ministry explains that bringing pine logs with bark attached into Saskatchewan from jurisdictions with established mountain pine beetle populations is prohibited.

The investigation began after a caller to the Turn In Poachers and Polluters , or TIPP line, reported that Landrider Trux was bringing the pine logs in from Sundrie, Alberta. In May of 2023, a conservation officer visited the business, arriving just after a truck with logs had been unloaded. Two piles of logs were seized and the Ministry of Environment’s Forest Service Branch confirmed the wood’s origin.

The Ministry explains that mountain pine beetle has killed large swaths of forest in B.C. and Alberta, and is also established in the Cypress Hills area, putting all of Saskatchewan’s pine forests at significant risk.

If you suspect wildlife, fisheries, forestry or environmental violations, please call Saskatchewan’s toll-free Turn In Poachers and Polluters (TIPP) line at 1-800-667-7561 or report violations online at saskatchewan.ca/tipp. You may be eligible for cash rewards from the SaskTIP Reward Program and don’t have to give your name.