Time to fire up the pack dog discussion with the new minister. I'll post email addys below:
Dear Honourable Ms. Phillips:
Congratulations on your appointment as ESRD Minister. This is a ministry that that often receives very little attention but it is one that is critical to the long-term conservation of Alberta's fish, wildlife and wild places. As I'm certain you are aware, the current Wildlife Regulation is set to expire at the end of June and I understand previous to the election, your staff was working diligently to make a number of changes, including the possibility of allowing hunters to be accompanied by companion dogs in the 400WMUs. The term "companion" dog is a bit of a misnomer as the push behind this regulation change was to permit the use of working pack dogs, not to have the family pet along for a stroll while hunting but I understand the use of term by your staff was to simplify the rule change. The push for this change has been nearly five years in the making and despite the promises of three previous ESRD Ministers to make the change, it still has yet to come to fruition.
On April 15, 2013, previous minister, the honourable Diana McQueen, responded to a question from Ms. Blakeman in the legislature regarding the legalization of pack dogs and her response was "Yeah. I was actually surprised, hon. member. For those that don’t know about it, with regard to the pack dogs that actually just wasn’t allowed. So what I’ve directed the April 15, 2013 Resource Stewardship RS-299 department is: this is something that’s just common sense and that should be allowed, and let’s get moving on this. I was surprised that that didn’t happen already. It’s something I certainly wasn’t aware of. When those that were advocating for it brought it to my attention and to the ministry’s attention – in my mind it’s a nobrainer, and let’s just move on it."
It is a no-brainer and I understand that the wheels of bureaucracy move slowly. Pack dog owners in the province were encouraged to see this moving forward and I would urge you to please ensure it is included in the new Wildlife Regulation.
To give you a bit of background on the subject, at the 2011 Alberta Fish and Game Association convention, a resolution was passed by the membership and passed along to ESRD to allow the use of pack dogs in Alberta. While I won't go into too much detail in this letter regarding pack dogs, basically they are used as a beast of burden much as a horse is and aid primarily mountain hunters in packing their gear in and game out. They are in no way used to chase, pursue or track game. Their only purpose is to be a pack animal. There is considerable evidence from BC, Yukon Territory and NWT that their presence in remote hunting camps also greatly reduces human/grizzly conflict, saving both the lives of humans and bears. Currently, Alberta is the only mountain jurisdiction in North America that does not permit their use. According to your own department, the current wording in the Wildlife Act is not intended to prohibit the use of pack dogs, yet it does. There has been historical use and continues to be use of pack dogs by First Nation hunters in the province but unintended wording in the 1906 Wildlife Act prevents Non-First Nation hunters from using them.
Everyone seems to agree that pack dogs should be permitted in Alberta and we are on the cusp of making this happen and it would seem a shame for it to be excluded now for no other reason than an early election call by the former Government. A legitimate user group is being excluded from Alberta's backcountry and Albertans' safety is being put at risk just because of some poor wording in 1906. I have included some background information on pack dogs for you and will forward you some support material under separate cover. I have written several award-winning articles and columns on the use of pack dogs in North America and I'd like to write one final one on how Alberta's new Government saw it fit to finally make good on a string of broken promises and help ensure the safety of Alberta's backcountry users and our precious grizzly bears.
I look forward to receiving your thoughts on this subject.
Yours truly,
T.J. Schwanky
Dear Honourable Ms. Phillips:
Congratulations on your appointment as ESRD Minister. This is a ministry that that often receives very little attention but it is one that is critical to the long-term conservation of Alberta's fish, wildlife and wild places. As I'm certain you are aware, the current Wildlife Regulation is set to expire at the end of June and I understand previous to the election, your staff was working diligently to make a number of changes, including the possibility of allowing hunters to be accompanied by companion dogs in the 400WMUs. The term "companion" dog is a bit of a misnomer as the push behind this regulation change was to permit the use of working pack dogs, not to have the family pet along for a stroll while hunting but I understand the use of term by your staff was to simplify the rule change. The push for this change has been nearly five years in the making and despite the promises of three previous ESRD Ministers to make the change, it still has yet to come to fruition.
On April 15, 2013, previous minister, the honourable Diana McQueen, responded to a question from Ms. Blakeman in the legislature regarding the legalization of pack dogs and her response was "Yeah. I was actually surprised, hon. member. For those that don’t know about it, with regard to the pack dogs that actually just wasn’t allowed. So what I’ve directed the April 15, 2013 Resource Stewardship RS-299 department is: this is something that’s just common sense and that should be allowed, and let’s get moving on this. I was surprised that that didn’t happen already. It’s something I certainly wasn’t aware of. When those that were advocating for it brought it to my attention and to the ministry’s attention – in my mind it’s a nobrainer, and let’s just move on it."
It is a no-brainer and I understand that the wheels of bureaucracy move slowly. Pack dog owners in the province were encouraged to see this moving forward and I would urge you to please ensure it is included in the new Wildlife Regulation.
To give you a bit of background on the subject, at the 2011 Alberta Fish and Game Association convention, a resolution was passed by the membership and passed along to ESRD to allow the use of pack dogs in Alberta. While I won't go into too much detail in this letter regarding pack dogs, basically they are used as a beast of burden much as a horse is and aid primarily mountain hunters in packing their gear in and game out. They are in no way used to chase, pursue or track game. Their only purpose is to be a pack animal. There is considerable evidence from BC, Yukon Territory and NWT that their presence in remote hunting camps also greatly reduces human/grizzly conflict, saving both the lives of humans and bears. Currently, Alberta is the only mountain jurisdiction in North America that does not permit their use. According to your own department, the current wording in the Wildlife Act is not intended to prohibit the use of pack dogs, yet it does. There has been historical use and continues to be use of pack dogs by First Nation hunters in the province but unintended wording in the 1906 Wildlife Act prevents Non-First Nation hunters from using them.
Everyone seems to agree that pack dogs should be permitted in Alberta and we are on the cusp of making this happen and it would seem a shame for it to be excluded now for no other reason than an early election call by the former Government. A legitimate user group is being excluded from Alberta's backcountry and Albertans' safety is being put at risk just because of some poor wording in 1906. I have included some background information on pack dogs for you and will forward you some support material under separate cover. I have written several award-winning articles and columns on the use of pack dogs in North America and I'd like to write one final one on how Alberta's new Government saw it fit to finally make good on a string of broken promises and help ensure the safety of Alberta's backcountry users and our precious grizzly bears.
I look forward to receiving your thoughts on this subject.
Yours truly,
T.J. Schwanky
Send
to plus your own MLA
ESRD.Minister@gov.ab.ca;
west.yellowhead@assembly.ab.ca; lethbridge.west@assembly.ab.ca;
edmonton.strathcona@assembly.ab.ca; fortmcmurray.conklin@assembly.ab.ca;
Matt.Besko@gov.ab.ca; dave.kay@gov.ab.ca; Travis.Ripley@gov.ab.ca
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