Lezlie Goodwin
Dear editor:
Comments made by Brian W. Love of Mine Centre in his letter to the editor headlined “Lip Service,” which appeared in the March 25, 2009 edition of the Fort Frances Times, contained misconceptions and outright inaccuracies regarding the role and position of the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (O.F.A.H.) in the Ontario Moose Program Review currently underway.
Mr. Love repeatedly implied that the provincial review, including the recent information sessions on moose tag allocations, is being led jointly by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the O.F.A.H., which is absolutely not the case.
Under the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1979, the MNR has sole responsibility for the proper management of our fish and wildlife. To that end, they were responsible for the planning, content, and delivery of the provincial moose program review.
The O.F.A.H., as well as other stakeholders, certainly have provided input to the process, and we will continue to do so at every opportunity, but we do so on behalf of our 100,000 members, subscribers, and supporters and not at the behest of the ministry.
Under the original plan proposed by the MNR, the entire public input process would have been rushed through in 2008, with inadequate time and opportunity for response by moose hunters across Ontario. The O.F.A.H. made it clear, at that time, that the issue was of such importance that it required more extensive opportunity for input, and that if the MNR insisted on rushing the process, the O.F.A.H. would not support it.
Subsequently, the MNR agreed to a more fulsome review of the moose tag allocation system, including public open houses across the province.
As a result, the MNR arranged information sessions at 27 venues earlier this year and the O.F.A.H., in turn, offered to assist by communicating schedule dates and details to our members and others via media releases, Ontario OUT OF DOORS magazine, and our website.
We stipulated, however, that our support was contingent upon the MNR providing sufficient lead time for public notification, which ultimately was not done to our full satisfaction.
Mr. Love described the O.F.A.H. as co-presenters with the MNR when, in fact, O.F.A.H. volunteers acted only as moderators to ensure the process was a meaningful one for hunters, with public accountability, and not just an MNR public relations opportunity.
Moderators of these sessions, including O.F.A.H. past president Jack Hedman, were required to restrict comments at the session to moose tag allocation. These public meetings were held for the single purpose of determining what changes should be made to the current moose tag allocation system.
However, hunters should feel free to express their opinions and concerns about any issue involving moose hunting in Ontario via letter, e-mail, phone call, comments to the EBR posting (by April 30), contact with MNR district offices, and in any and every manner possible.
The O.F.A.H. was founded more than 80 years ago on the conservation concerns of a small group of anglers, and to this day we urge Ontario residents to engage the MNR in all aspects of managing our precious fish and wildlife resources.
Yours in conservation,
Lezlie Goodwin
Communications
co-ordinator, O.F.A.H.,
Peterborough, Ont.
