Loud bass music blaring through all hours of the night until the sky lights up accompanied by a boisterously inebriated crowd likely evokes a mental image of a party akin to a rave.
But this is becoming a scene all too familiar for some Albertans who go camping in the Rockies seeking to find tranquility and fresh air amid the mountains only to discover themselves inadvertently stumbling into a club-like atmosphere with belligerent and borderline hostile neighbours that erroneously believe being on public land grants them the right to do whatever they want.
Yet despite the impression some people seem to be under that recreating on Crown land means carte blanche to disrespect everybody else in the vicinity, Public Land Use Zones are a shared resource with rules requiring consideration for other people and the environment.
“Regulations are in place for all recreational activities within a Public Land Use Zone to protect users and ensure sustainable long-term use of the land,” states the provincial government’s website.
Recreation within a PLUZ is governed under the Public Lands Act as well as the Public Land Administration Regulation.
Cpl. Courtney Harding, the Sundre RCMP detachment’s acting commander, told the Albertan police have the authority to enforce infractions such as noise violations that are disturbing the peace or even sullying a site with trash and at their discretion may issue fines or even court appearances.
“If they’re obstructing your lawful use and enjoyment of property, that’s another one that could come to mind depending on what’s going on,” she said.
“There are all sorts of different laws and rules that apply to Crown lands.”
Spending time on Crown land requires a Public Lands Camping Pass and if police have been called, responding officers would verify the subjects of the complaint have the permit; failure to present the pass could result in a charge and an order to vacate the property, she said.
The corporal is all too familiar with such situations having personally experienced it for herself while trying to enjoy some time off with her family a few years ago only to be met with a group that was creating a disturbance for everyone else.
“We use Crown land as well for camping,” she said.
“In my own situation, when I went to go try to address this because we had kids and a family, we were told to go to a provincial park where other families could go,” she said.
“It must be their line: ‘We come out here because we’re allowed to do this,’” she said, stating unequivocally that is not the case.
“It’s unfortunate that people have those beliefs” and “cause these experiences for others,” she said, adding everyone is entitled to peacefully and safely enjoy the land.
Each situation is of course different, and while someone may feel comfortable approaching a group that’s causing a disturbance in an attempt at engaging in some neighbourly diplomacy to resolve the issue, “That’s all based on individual risk assessments,” she said.
“If there’s safety concerns and a person is not comfortable speaking with these people who are causing a disturbance, that’s when you’re going to want to call for help,” she said.
“We’d come out and deal with it.”
While such a dispute would not fall under the emergency category, inebriated crowds can have a tendency to be unpredictable and the situation could quickly change if matters were to escalate.
“If it’s an ongoing disturbance, if they’re acting aggressively, if they’re drunk, if it’s a public safety concern, 100 per cent call us and we can go address the situation,” she said.
“Folks who are causing that much of a disturbance, there’s usually other things going on,” she said.
“There could be firearms, maybe they’re shooting off guns … there’s all sorts of issues that are caused out there.”
So in the event people are camping on Crown land that’s out of cell service, the corporal recommends options such as being equipped with a satellite phone or even a service such as Starlink.
“In the absence of all of that, try to drive out where you can get to cell service and just call for help.”
