Wildlife fence being installed

Staff

Work is underway at the Fort Frances Airport to install the five-kilometre long fence around the property so deer don’t get onto the runway.
“You’ll see a lot of activity out there at the airport,” said Doug Brown, Manager of Operations and Facilities for the Town of Fort Frances, reporting to council at Monday’s meeting about the installation of the wildlife management control fence.
“There’s four guys working there six days a week now, there’s supposed to be two more crews coming,” he added.
Last Thursday (Sept. 8) they were on site, installing the main fence posts at all the corners and every 200 metres bracing posts, he noted about the progress which has been made so far. The crew was back on site again this Monday, starting to put up the smaller, intermediate post.
The completion date for the fence is by Oct. 14.
The five-km long fence will surround the entire airport property to prevent wildlife—especially deer—from getting in. As previously reported, the airport has experienced problems with deer on the runway for the past several years.
The fence will be a 2.4-metre high, fixed-knot game fence complete with two-strand high-tensile wire.
Funding for the fencing to the tune of $589,900 was announced June 29 through Transport Canada’s Airports Capital Assistance Program (ACAP).