Changes to pass required to access Little Bluff

Little Bluff. Quinte Conservation photo

Quinte Conservation has installed electronic gates at Vanderwater and Little Bluff conservation areas.

The goal of the gates systems, notes Tammy Smith, Quinte Conservation’s corporate services manager, is to manage visitor numbers and mitigate reoccurring issues of vandalism, illegal dumping, and loitering – which will help to reduce the demand of already-limited staff.

Current annual pass holders will need to verify their accounts through an online form at QuinteConservation.ca to receive an access card for Quinte Conservation’s areas. Moving forward, annual passes may only be purchased or renewed through Quinte Conservation’s website.

Annual pass holders will now be issued access cards that can be scanned at Vanderwater and Little Bluff Conservation Areas and applied to Quinte Conservation’s other areas.

Daily users are still required to pay the parking rate either through the electronic gate system or through Pay by Phone, which is still active at all other conservation areas.

“Over the last two years, Little Bluff Conservation Area has undergone a series of improvement projects, and with the addition of the electronic gate, we have been able to better manage visitor numbers and misuse of the area thus reducing the impact to the significant ecology,” said Smith. “With these systems now in place we will be opening Little Bluff back up to annual pass holders all year long.”

In addition, the parking pass loan program will continue at local libraries. Over the next few weeks, each library will receive a series of new access cards and will discontinue the use of the laminated parking passes.

Residents interested in borrowing a conservation area parking pass should contact their local library for more information.