bingo1010
02-21-2008, 04:51 PM
:sick:
below is the response i recieved from ted morton or someone in his office in regards to the OS program and a letter i wrote to him
AR18536
Thank you for your recent e-mail concerning the Open Spaces Alberta Pilot Program.
You passionately state your opposition to Open Spaces because you fear it will undermine public hunting. If it did, I too would oppose Open Spaces.
If you think that all Open Spaces does is give tags to rich landowners to sell to the highest bidder, then you are right to be angry. I’d be angry too.
But the facts are different. Open Spaces has the potential to significantly enhance the quality of public hunting and start to rebuild the declining numbers of hunters in Alberta—the real key to protecting the future of our hunting heritage.
I know that there is a lot of partial and misleading information circulating about the Open Spaces initiative, so let me try to give you a more complete picture of what this pilot project is about.
Open Spaces Alberta is a pilot program that aims to improve and expand public hunting by providing increased access, increased habitat and increased wildlife populations. The proposed pilot project would include only two areas in southwestern Alberta (Wildlife Management Units 108 and 300) and last only five years. Stakeholder groups have been engaged in the process and will continue to be throughout the five-year trial period. A provincial-level stakeholder group has recommended a general policy framework and proposed pilot areas. Much work, including detailed management agreements, remains to be done in pilot areas by local planning groups that include hunters.
During the trial, consultants will be contracted to monitor hunter satisfaction, access to private land, existing habitat, and landowner satisfaction. At the end of five years, Fish and Wildlife Division will consult with all stakeholders to determine whether program goals have been achieved and whether the program should be expanded or terminated.
Open Spaces has two components. The Recreation Access Management Program (RAMP) will provide an access management system that connects hunters and landowners more efficiently. RAMP would compensate landowners for increasing/improving habitat on their lands and allowing public access for hunting and angling. The compensation would come from the Government, not hunters, and participation would be voluntary for landowners. The compensation would be based on a “hunter-day” schedule, and would vary depending on the size of the property and the quality of the habitat. There would be a maximum dollar cap on how much a landowner could receive for the season.
This approach recognizes that Alberta’s ranchers and farmers are our partners in wildlife stewardship, not our adversaries. While deer, elk, ducks and pheasants are and will always remain public goods, the habitat they depend upon is often managed by private landowners. On private lands, which comprise over 85 percent of southern and central Alberta, decisions about habitat management are at the discretion of the landowner. If we want that habitat to remain or be restored—whether it be sloughs, woodlots or brush-patches—and if we want public access to increase, we can’t just leave all the costs and inconvenience on the shoulders of landowners.
This cost-sharing approach is also the foundation for the second part of Open Spaces—Hunting for Habitat. This program would focus primarily on elk, but could include other species, as determined by a local planning group. It would involve voluntary cooperatives of mid- to large-size landowners in the WMU. Only privately-owned, deeded land would be eligible. Crown grazing leases remain open to public access under the current rules.
The goal is to increase public access, wildlife habitat, herd size and the number of tags available to public hunters. The current management strategy in WMUs 108 and 300 is to SUPPRESS the number of elk by focusing the public hunt on cow elk. We do this because the elk herds cost local ranchers thousands of dollars by competing with their cattle for forage, knocking down fences, and damaging crops.
Under Hunting for Habitat, the strategy would be to significantly INCREASE the size of the herd by shifting the hunt to bulls and building up the cow (reproducing) population. On Milk River Ridge, for example, this management strategy could increase the herd from its current size of one hundred elk to a thousand or more elk. Over time, this would mean hundreds of additional elk tags available through the public draw process.
Would participating landowners get some of these new tags? Yes, approximately 10-15 per cent of the total, to sell the same way that licensed outfitters now sell their allotted tags. This is how landowners would be compensated for the costs of the additional elk on their land.
But the vast majority of NEW tags—over 80 percent—would go to public hunters through the normal draw process. And public hunters would have guaranteed access to participating ranches—many of which have been posted “No Hunting, No Trespassing” for decades. It seems to me that this is a darn good trade-off for resident hunters like you and me.
There would be other benefits as well. An elk herd of this size would become a tourist attraction during the summer months. This would further strengthen the local economy, and also introduce city-dwellers to rural Alberta and environmentally-sustainable land-uses—which include hunting, as well as good range management.
During my time as Minister of Sustainable Resource Development, I have supported a number of new initiatives to improve public hunting and strengthen the tradition of hunting in Alberta. In addition to Open Spaces, these include expanding Sunday hunting; an official provincial hunting day; new opportunities for youth hunters; and MLA Len Mitzel’s bill on a Hunting Heritage Act.
Open Spaces is only one of these initiatives, but, in my mind, one of the most important. Why? Because it begins to build new bridges between the public hunting community and private landowners, between those of us who own Alberta’s wildlife and those who take care of the habitat on which our wildlife and fisheries flourish. I believe that this new spirit of cooperation will be a win for habitat, a win for wildlife, and a win for Alberta hunters and anglers.
I hope this answers some of your questions about Open Spaces. Even if I haven’t persuaded you, I hope you will keep an open mind and support the pilot projects so we can see if they work. If they don’t work, we can terminate them. If we don’t try, we’ll never know.
Honourable Ted Morton
Minister
For more information about Open Spaces, please visit http://poli.ucalgary.ca/wildlifestewardship/
P.S. I would also recommend checking out the great article in the November, 2007 issue of National Geographic, “Hunters: For the Love of the Land.” It documents the important conservation role of voluntary hunter organizations like the Alberta Fish and Game Association and Ducks Unlimited in protecting and restoring the habitat on which wildlife depends.
The article is available on line at:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/2007-11/hunters/poole-text.html
Please share this positive message with your hunting buddies and with the non-hunters in your circle of friends. We need more non-hunters to know about the good work we do. Or in the words of National Geographic, “The irony is that many species might not survive at all were it not for the hunters …. The nation’s 12.5 million hunters have become essential partners in wildlife management.”
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail.
this letter was directed to me personally, and i give everyone permission to print and use it at their discretion.
below is the response i recieved from ted morton or someone in his office in regards to the OS program and a letter i wrote to him
AR18536
Thank you for your recent e-mail concerning the Open Spaces Alberta Pilot Program.
You passionately state your opposition to Open Spaces because you fear it will undermine public hunting. If it did, I too would oppose Open Spaces.
If you think that all Open Spaces does is give tags to rich landowners to sell to the highest bidder, then you are right to be angry. I’d be angry too.
But the facts are different. Open Spaces has the potential to significantly enhance the quality of public hunting and start to rebuild the declining numbers of hunters in Alberta—the real key to protecting the future of our hunting heritage.
I know that there is a lot of partial and misleading information circulating about the Open Spaces initiative, so let me try to give you a more complete picture of what this pilot project is about.
Open Spaces Alberta is a pilot program that aims to improve and expand public hunting by providing increased access, increased habitat and increased wildlife populations. The proposed pilot project would include only two areas in southwestern Alberta (Wildlife Management Units 108 and 300) and last only five years. Stakeholder groups have been engaged in the process and will continue to be throughout the five-year trial period. A provincial-level stakeholder group has recommended a general policy framework and proposed pilot areas. Much work, including detailed management agreements, remains to be done in pilot areas by local planning groups that include hunters.
During the trial, consultants will be contracted to monitor hunter satisfaction, access to private land, existing habitat, and landowner satisfaction. At the end of five years, Fish and Wildlife Division will consult with all stakeholders to determine whether program goals have been achieved and whether the program should be expanded or terminated.
Open Spaces has two components. The Recreation Access Management Program (RAMP) will provide an access management system that connects hunters and landowners more efficiently. RAMP would compensate landowners for increasing/improving habitat on their lands and allowing public access for hunting and angling. The compensation would come from the Government, not hunters, and participation would be voluntary for landowners. The compensation would be based on a “hunter-day” schedule, and would vary depending on the size of the property and the quality of the habitat. There would be a maximum dollar cap on how much a landowner could receive for the season.
This approach recognizes that Alberta’s ranchers and farmers are our partners in wildlife stewardship, not our adversaries. While deer, elk, ducks and pheasants are and will always remain public goods, the habitat they depend upon is often managed by private landowners. On private lands, which comprise over 85 percent of southern and central Alberta, decisions about habitat management are at the discretion of the landowner. If we want that habitat to remain or be restored—whether it be sloughs, woodlots or brush-patches—and if we want public access to increase, we can’t just leave all the costs and inconvenience on the shoulders of landowners.
This cost-sharing approach is also the foundation for the second part of Open Spaces—Hunting for Habitat. This program would focus primarily on elk, but could include other species, as determined by a local planning group. It would involve voluntary cooperatives of mid- to large-size landowners in the WMU. Only privately-owned, deeded land would be eligible. Crown grazing leases remain open to public access under the current rules.
The goal is to increase public access, wildlife habitat, herd size and the number of tags available to public hunters. The current management strategy in WMUs 108 and 300 is to SUPPRESS the number of elk by focusing the public hunt on cow elk. We do this because the elk herds cost local ranchers thousands of dollars by competing with their cattle for forage, knocking down fences, and damaging crops.
Under Hunting for Habitat, the strategy would be to significantly INCREASE the size of the herd by shifting the hunt to bulls and building up the cow (reproducing) population. On Milk River Ridge, for example, this management strategy could increase the herd from its current size of one hundred elk to a thousand or more elk. Over time, this would mean hundreds of additional elk tags available through the public draw process.
Would participating landowners get some of these new tags? Yes, approximately 10-15 per cent of the total, to sell the same way that licensed outfitters now sell their allotted tags. This is how landowners would be compensated for the costs of the additional elk on their land.
But the vast majority of NEW tags—over 80 percent—would go to public hunters through the normal draw process. And public hunters would have guaranteed access to participating ranches—many of which have been posted “No Hunting, No Trespassing” for decades. It seems to me that this is a darn good trade-off for resident hunters like you and me.
There would be other benefits as well. An elk herd of this size would become a tourist attraction during the summer months. This would further strengthen the local economy, and also introduce city-dwellers to rural Alberta and environmentally-sustainable land-uses—which include hunting, as well as good range management.
During my time as Minister of Sustainable Resource Development, I have supported a number of new initiatives to improve public hunting and strengthen the tradition of hunting in Alberta. In addition to Open Spaces, these include expanding Sunday hunting; an official provincial hunting day; new opportunities for youth hunters; and MLA Len Mitzel’s bill on a Hunting Heritage Act.
Open Spaces is only one of these initiatives, but, in my mind, one of the most important. Why? Because it begins to build new bridges between the public hunting community and private landowners, between those of us who own Alberta’s wildlife and those who take care of the habitat on which our wildlife and fisheries flourish. I believe that this new spirit of cooperation will be a win for habitat, a win for wildlife, and a win for Alberta hunters and anglers.
I hope this answers some of your questions about Open Spaces. Even if I haven’t persuaded you, I hope you will keep an open mind and support the pilot projects so we can see if they work. If they don’t work, we can terminate them. If we don’t try, we’ll never know.
Honourable Ted Morton
Minister
For more information about Open Spaces, please visit http://poli.ucalgary.ca/wildlifestewardship/
P.S. I would also recommend checking out the great article in the November, 2007 issue of National Geographic, “Hunters: For the Love of the Land.” It documents the important conservation role of voluntary hunter organizations like the Alberta Fish and Game Association and Ducks Unlimited in protecting and restoring the habitat on which wildlife depends.
The article is available on line at:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/2007-11/hunters/poole-text.html
Please share this positive message with your hunting buddies and with the non-hunters in your circle of friends. We need more non-hunters to know about the good work we do. Or in the words of National Geographic, “The irony is that many species might not survive at all were it not for the hunters …. The nation’s 12.5 million hunters have become essential partners in wildlife management.”
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail.
this letter was directed to me personally, and i give everyone permission to print and use it at their discretion.