Duane Hicks
Deer should be less of a nuisance at the Fort Frances Airport this fall after the town recently landed federal funding for wildlife control fencing there.
Looking for a means to control deer getting on the runway, the town had applied for funding this spring under Transport Canada’s Airports Capital Assistance Program (ACAP).
Ottawa officially announced June 29 that the town had received a financial assistance contribution in the amount of $589,900 through ACAP.
Mayor Roy Avis said the funding is welcome news given it will improve runway safety through a means the town would not be able to afford on its own.
“The deer were affecting the landings of aircraft coming in,” he noted. “When you have a regularly-scheduled flight a day, that’s a concern.
“Therefore, they [Transport Canada] want to prevent anything from happening, and we’ll now move forward with the fencing.
“It’s very good news because we, as a municipality, there’s no way we could afford it,” Mayor Avis added.
Last week, the town put out a call for tenders for wildlife control fencing at the airport, with the aim to get it built prior to rutting season this fall.
The five-km long fence will surround the entire airport property to prevent wildlife, especially deer, from getting in.
It will be a 2.4-metre high, fixed-knot game fence complete with two-strand high-tensile wire.
As previously reported, the airport here has experienced problems with deer on the runway for the past several years.
While permitting members of the Fort Frances Sportsmen’s Club to hunt deer at the airport served as a short-term solution, the town always has maintained the preferred long-term one was a wildlife fence.
The funding is part of a federal investment of more than $20.9 million for 27 projects at 23 airports across Canada for 2011-12.
“The Government of Canada is committed to the safety and security of all Canadians, and continues to invest in airport safety by assisting regional and local airport owners with safety-related capital projects,” Transport, Infrastructure and Communities minister Denis Lebel said in a press release.
“The [federal] government recognizes that efficient and safe airports are vital to the local economies of smaller communities, which is why we are taking action to invest in these safety improvement projects,” he added.
ACAP provides funding for capital projects related to safety. It officially began on April 1, 1995 as part of the National Airports Policy.
The current program will allocate an average of $38 million per year.
To date, through ACAP, Ottawa has invested a total of $556 million for 678 projects at 171 airports.
