Our MLA finally got a meeting set up for a few of the ranchers to voice concerns to Minister of Natural Resources, Steve Thompson.
Here is the submission Debbie and I put forward. It was the only one he asked for a copy of.
Hello,
Thank you for giving this opportunity to hear our problems and give our view to the predator issue.
As you are no doubt aware, the ranching business is financially marginal at best. The last 9 years we have had challenges that are out of our control what with BSE, rising input costs such as fuel, parts, labour and in our part of the province, personal livestock losses in excess of $100,000 due solely to predators. These costs have put an effective damper to the growth and profitability of our enterprise.
Some losses due to predation have always been expected due to the location of our ranch but the escalating populations of wolves and grizzlies over the last decade have made such a devastating reduction to ungulate species of wildlife that they are now becoming to reley on livestock as their prey in earnest.
Low prices in the fur market,public perception of predators, and legislative restrictions on predator management are dimming the future even more for the ranching community. There is little incentive for the younger generation to take the reins from the aging ranchers of today and the toll that predators are taking on our herds is one more stumbling block in the path to seeing this transition take place.
Liken this issue to thieves stealing your paycheck on a regular basis with little or no chance of you or the police catching them! There are so many "gangs" with no choice but to steal to survive that when one gang is removed, the next gang moves in.
With this said, we are asking you to put in place a full time program that will compensate livestock producers for costs incurred when the hiring of experienced predator mitigators is our only option to protect our livestock. We would like to have the use of this option not only for actual killing of livestock but to include harrassment and wounding as well.
Harrassment incurs it's own costs such as weight loss, reduced conception rates, cattle being moved off their own ranges, (which in our case led to being charged for tresspass of cattle on a neighboring unfenced range) and increased monitoring and retrieval of displaced herds. This is all very costly and time consuming for a business that is cash strapped and short of labour already.
The past program for predator mitigation was a good one that only needed some minor adjustment to make it work more effectively but lack of financial support and producer dissatisfaction led to its demise. Producers who knew that predators were a problem but could not find a verifiable kill in order to begin the mitigation process became very frustrated with the rules and support to keep it in place was lost.
The problem caused by the status quo of inexperienced trappers and increased bag limits and seasons is that wolf packs are fragmented leading to more packs and more pups being born. Experienced mitigators are capable of removing the complete pack and thereby making a positive impact on reducing the population. It is possible that even further methods of reduction will need to be adopted before this epidemic is brought under control.
We would also ask for an LEH season be opened for grizzly bears in areas where they have recovered to the point of becoming a nuisance.
Furthermore, any program that may be put in place needs to be done quietly in order to not be jeopordize by the unknowing, well meaning general public.
In closing, we hope you will act on this issue immediately as the game herds that First Nations and resident hunters
depend on for sustenance are fast becoming non-exsistant. Compound this with the fact that livestock are the only other choice predators can turn to and you have an industry that cannot sustain any more costs being in serious jeopordy of itself becoming extinct.