Still legally unable to discourage wildlife from wandering onto their land, eating crops or wrecking fences, Yukon farmers may soon have the right to chase those unwanted visitors away.
This proposal is one of 15 now being considered to the territory’s Wildlife Act for the coming year. The Yukon government is now calling for public comment on those proposals.
The deadline for written comments is Dec. 7, in advance of a meeting of the Yukon Fish and Wildlife Management Board where the public can speak to the proposals directly before the board makes its recommendations to Environment Minister Dennis Fentie.
Read Also
U.S. livestock: Cattle futures down, hogs rise
Live and feeder cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange showed small losses on Thursday, while lean hog futures made…
A worksheet outlining all 15 recommendations and offering space for comment is available from Environment Yukon’s web site.
Yukon farmers today fall under the Wildlife Act’s harassment provisions, which forbid use of deterrents against wildlife. The proposed amendment would add a new section to allow conservation officers to issue a permit for a farmer to “manipulate” wildlife to protect private property.
The amendment, in other words, would allow farmers to use dogs, snowmobiles, noisemakers and other means to chase wildlife off their properties. However, it does not allow farmers to harm animals in any way.
The proposals also include a plan to allow for retail sales of game meat and “inedible byproducts” from licensed game farms. Currently, only licensed game farmers in the Yukon can sell the meat and byproducts from their game farm animals.
In proposing the change, the environment department noted that some stores and restaurants can now sell legally imported, federally inspected game farm meat from other jurisdictions, such as Alberta. It’s hoped the change would encourage more consumption of local products and encourage local retailers and restaurateurs to consider buying and selling Yukon-grown game meat.
The new regulation, if passed, would still give conservation officers a way to track legal sales of game farm meat, but would also require more enforcement capacity, the department noted.
If recommended by the board, these changes would then go into the formal drafting process for the 2008-09 hunting season, which includes a 60-day formal public review period and formal consultations with First Nations, the Yukon government noted in a release.
The Fish and Wildlife Management Board’s public meeting on the proposals will be held the evening of Dec. 11 at the Westmark Whitehorse.
