Remove ice huts now, MNR cautions

[Spiel]

Remove ice huts now, MNR cautions

 

March 26, 2008

Kate Weldon / barrysbaythisweek.com

 

 

The deadline for ice hut removal is soon approaching.

 

Although March 31 is the day all ice huts need to be off frozen waterways, Pembroke District Ministry of Natural Resources Special Project Officer Doug Skeggs says, "Now’s the time folks, don’t wait."

 

He says spring temperatures are unpredictable and a quick rise in temperature and a little rainfall can turn a frozen lake into a swimming pool with the blink of an eye.

 

"If you leave it (an ice hut) on too long it may no longer be safe to retrieve it."

 

Every year, Skeggs says, ice huts fall through the ice because their owners don’t remove them in time.

 

The structure, along with its contents, end up on the bottom of the lake where they can interfere with the ecosystem of aquatic life.

 

Those who leave their hut out on the ice after March 31 can face a fine of $150 under the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act.