A Westwold rancher has been handed a nearly $30,000 penalty by the B.C. Supreme Court after he pleaded guilty to obstructing natural resource officers from performing inspections amid a contentious environmental order.
Erik Buff was fined $29,900 in a March 26 provincial court decision for his summer 2023 contravention of the Water Sustainability Act, during a period of time between Aug. 16 and Sept. 6 of that year when a fish protection order had been issued by the Ministry of Environment due to severe drought conditions in the area.
The fish protection order had prohibited irrigation from the Salmon River and several named groundwater sources to safeguard fish populations.
The order was met with considerable pushback from local farmers, who feared their crops would be lost if they couldn’t water during the warm summer weeks that it was to be in place.
The issue quickly became politicized.
More than 200 farmers and ranchers met at the Westwold Community Hall on Sept. 2, 2023, to voice their concerns. They were joined by seven MLAs with BC United (the province’s Official Opposition at the time) as well as the now defunct party’s leader, Kevin Falcon, all of whom voiced their similar displeasure with the fish protection order.
A joint submission from the Crown and defence, submitted before B.C. Supreme Court Justice David Patterson, referred to Buff’s actions several days before that community meeting with the MLAs, on Aug. 29.
On that day, Buff obstructed two natural resource officers from carrying out an inspection at one of his Westwold properties — owned through his company, One Plus Cattle Co. — and caused the officers to fear for their safety, according to the decision.
Intending to conduct an inspection of the property, the natural resource officers drove up the dirt driveway and stopped at the edge of Buff’s field. Buff’s spouse came out and argued with the officers, who were in their marked vehicle. Then, Buff drove his truck at the officers, stopping just short of their front bumper and blocking them in, according to the agreed upon statement of facts.
“The officers thought they were going to be rammed and feared for their safety,” the decision states. “Erik Buff backed his truck up, and the (officers) drove away once there was sufficient space to leave.”
Due to the officers’ safety concerns, they were obstructed from carrying out their inspection of the property that day, and did so on a later unspecified date.
Justice Patterson noted that there seemed to be no published decisions on similar cases to this one, and therefore Buff’s case may be “the first of its kind.”
The judge accepted the joint submission for a penalty of $26,000, plus a 15 per cent victim surcharge, for a total fine of $29,900.
In handing down his sentence, Patterson noted that denunciation and general deterrence are always the key sentencing principles in environmental offences, which often affect the environment that “everybody relies on.” He noted that the penalty must be high enough so that contravention is not merely a “license fee” or “the cost of doing business.”
Buff’s moral blameworthiness in this offence was deemed to be high, given that natural resource officers are an unarmed force and their inspections of Buff’s property had to be suspended out of safety concerns.
Buff has until June 30, 2026 to pay the fine and the surcharge levy. Charges against his company and his spouse were stayed as part of a plea deal.