By Shane O'Neill

Newest conservation recruits getting their feet wet at Candle Lake

Sep 8, 2016 | 5:00 PM

The newest batch of conservation officers in western Canada are getting their feet wet in Candle Lake for the next six weeks.

On Thursday, Minister of Environment Scott Moe and Mayor Bordon Wasyluk welcomed the 22 new recruits of Troop 16, enrolled in the Western Conservation Law Enforcement Academy (WCLEA) to Saskatchewan and Candle Lake.

Rylan Parenteau, from Prince Albert, is one of the recruits. Growing up, he wanted to work in law enforcement, and as an avid angler, conservation was a natural choice.

“When you’re from these areas, you have so much abundance of all these natural resources,” Parenteau said. “We should protect it because we’re the stewards of the land.”

The academy, a partnership between the provinces of Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta, B.C. and Yukon Territory, is the final stage of preparation for potential conservation officers. In order to be accepted to the academy, recruits must complete a two-year diploma program in resource environmental law.

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It was launched in 2007 to address recruitment issues in conservation in the west and an aging work force among the provincial environment authorities. Troop 16 will be the eleventh class of WCLEA, which has already placed 52 conservation officers in Saskatchewan alone.

Moe said protecting the resources and natural beauty of Saskatchewan is critical to not only responsible development of rural areas, but the protection of the province’s hunting, fishing and tourism industries for future generations as well.

“Part of their work is exposing Saskatchewan people to what the laws and regulations are and the education of the great environment we have,” Moe said of the different roles compliance officers must adopt. “Giving each and every individual in the province the opportunity to do their part in preserving and protecting the great environment we have.”

The recruits will spend the next six weeks at the Candle Lake Golf Resort going through exercises and theory before returning to their home regions for further training and fieldwork.

In January, they willl return to Candle Lake for the final stages of their training, and if all goes well, their graduation.

shane.oneill@panow.com

On Twitter: @stroneill