SAINT JOHN, New Brunswick – Higher fines for wood poaching are making thieves more desperate and potentially dangerous, says the union representing the province’s forest rangers.

“From here on in, it’s probably going to get a little rougher,” said Mark Flanagan, president of the New Brunswick Government Employees Union. “People have more to lose now and they’re going to try to get away.”

New laws in the province bordering much of Maine, which have been enacted over the past year, raise the minimum fine for woodlot theft to $5,000.

Some fines handed out in the courts are in the $10,000 range per person.

Woodlot thieves used to just throw their hands in the air and give up when the rangers arrived, said Wade Wilson of the Department of Natural Resources and Energy.

They were content in knowing that they would simply “pay a $500 fine and lose their power saw,” he said.

Within a few days, they would be out in the woods again.

“When the fines are $5,000 to $10,000, the thieves are a little more serious about getting away,” Wilson said.

“This is getting a little more difficult for wood thieves and they’re more desperate in trying to get away.”

Jerry Dunnett, executive director of the New Brunswick Government Employees Union, said dangerous incidents have been on the rise.

“We often have people who are threatened in the woods. They’re chased with skidders or threatened with chain saws,” he said.

Unlike their federal counterparts, the rangers are armed with .38-caliber revolvers, batons and pepper spray.

The province tells employees not to put themselves into dangerous situations.

But sometimes they walk or drive into a situation and don’t have a chance to leave, said Dunnett.