LaSalle man slapped with $25,000 fine for destroying at-risk snake habitat

Published Jul 20, 2024 • 2 minute read

WINDSOR, ONT.: AUGUST 11, 2011 — An Eastern Fox Snake curls around Interpreter Vincent Laforet’s hand at the Ojibway Nature Centre in Windsor on Thursday, August 11, 2011. Photo by Tyler Brownbridge /win

A LaSalle man has been ordered to pay $25,000 in fines after being convicted of destroying habitat of the at-risk Eastern Foxsnake.

“The vegetation and land clearing activities removed features such as rock piles and shrubbery used by the Eastern Foxsnake for thermoregulation, predator avoidance and hunting prey,” Ontario’s Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks said in a media release.

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“Further, soil compaction caused by heavy equipment damaged habitat features relied upon by the Eastern Foxsnake for access to underground chambers and may have buried the species while hibernating underground, preventing them from being able to emerge in the spring.”

The man was convicted in April of damaging or destroying the habitat of a species listed on the Species at Risk in Ontario List.

The ministry’s Environmental Investigations and Enforcement Branch conducted the investigation and laid charges.

The province said the man was fined $5,000, plus a $1,250 victim fine surcharge, for a conviction under the Endangered Species Act.

The court also ordered him to pay the City of Windsor $20,000, which will be directed to the Ojibway Nature Centre.

The ministry said Friday he has 12 months to pay the fines.

His charge came from an investigation into land clearing activities at a series of undeveloped lots and road allowances. The man’s son owns some of the properties. The Town of LaSalle owns the others.

The province said the pieces of land are designated “natural environment” areas in the official plans of the County of Essex and LaSalle, “rendering them unusable for alteration and/or development.”

Sitting next to the Ojibway Tallgrass Prairie Heritage Park, the properties provide habitat for many rare and endangered species, specifically the Eastern Foxsnake. There have been more than 300 sightings of the species within one kilometre of the properties, according to the province.

Between February and March of 2022, the province said the convicted LaSalle man hired equipment and contractors to help clear vegetation on the properties, and was also personally involved in the work.

He did not obtain any approvals or permissions to do the work, the province said.

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