Brian Love
Dear Mike:
This is in response to the article from your March 4 edition of the Times headlined “MNR seeks feedback on moose tag draw.”
I attended the Feb. 24 presentation by the MNR and O.F.A.H. president Jack Hedman, and I don’t believe the MNR is the least bit interested in hunter input or feedback.
I believe the MNR, with the support of the O.F.A.H., already has a plan in place and is only paying lip service to the public consultation process.
According to the MNR, less than 1,300 hunters responded to the Phase I questionnaire. Yet there are 108,000 resident hunters in Ontario.
So, with a response of roughly one percent, the MNR was able to formulate a plan, identify major hunter concerns, and forge ahead into Phase II.
Furthermore, the MNR stated that only 143 respondents were from Northwestern Ontario. Ten of those respondents originated in Mine Centre, which would account for 7.5 percent of the total regional response.
I find that statistic difficult to believe as it would imply that no one from west of Thunder Bay submitted a response.
The only plausible explanation could be that respondents were asked to identify their home region and/or the respondents from this region did not complete the questionnaire with the correct answers.
To make matters worse, 80 percent of respondents to the initial survey identified calf predation by bears as a major problem. This issue was not acknowledged or addressed by the MNR.
The moderator cautioned the audience to confine questions and comments to hunter control and tag allocation.
Flying in the face of the hunters’ major concern, the ministry clearly is focused on one issue. Forestry practices, habitat protection and restoration, and predation were not mentioned.
The entire presentation was confined to one issue, yet no one aspect of wildlife/moose herd/moose hunt can be managed in isolation with success.
The ministry and O.F.A.H.’s myopic response to a population in crisis ultimately will spell disaster for moose and moose hunters in this region.
Finally, to illustrate what a sham these “consultations are, I refer to the final aspect of the presentation.
According to Mr. Eason (MNR), hunters were most concerned about padding group applications with non-hunters. He noted 7,000 groups (22 percent) transferred an adult tag within their group for the 2008 hunt.
My issue here is twofold. First, the major issue for moose hunters was already established—low calf numbers as a result of bear predation (80 percent).
More importantly is the fact that nobody knew how many tags were transferred except the MNR. Hunter groups in Kenora wouldn’t know how many tags were transferred in Thunder Bay or Sudbury.
Only the MNR knew—and then tried to pass this issue off as a hunter concern.
The fact that this charade was part of the ministry/O.F.A.H. presentation would also explain the lack of participation—and the sense of frustration by the people of this region.
Some 26 years of focusing on tag allocation and hunter control, and little else, has brought the moose herd and the moose hunt to where we are today.
Once again, the mandarins of Toronto and the O.F.A.H. are working diligently to the detriment of our region and our way of life.
I remain yours
in the outdoors,
Brian W. Love
Mine Centre, Ont.
