Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
Page 9
Page 10
Page 11
Page 12
Page 13
Page 14
Page 15
Page 16
Page 17
Page 18
Page 19
Page 20
6TuesdayAugust262014ByMEAGANWOHLBERGResidentsoftheNorthwestTerritorieswhowanttogiveinputontherstwaveofnewhuntingregulationsneedtodososoonbeforethenewNWTWildlifeActcomesintoeffectthisNovember.ThedepartmentofEn-vironmentandNaturalRe-sourcesENRisgivingitslastpushofconsultationonPhase1oftheproposednewwildliferegulationsfortheNWTtouringcommuni-tiesoverthenextweektohearconcernsandsuggestionsforchangesbeforetherulesgointowriting.WewanttohearhowtheregulationscanbeimprovedsaidRobGaumanagerofbio-diversityconservationwiththewildlifedivisionofENR.GauandSouthSlavere-gionalsuperintendentTroyEllsworthwereon-handinFortSmithlastWednesdayeveningtotakefeedbackontheproposedregulationswhichimpactbothAborig-inalandnon-Aboriginalharvesters.Thoseregulationsfocussolelyontheimmediatechangesrequiredtoimplementthenewact-onesthatremoveincon-sistencyandthatsupportsafesustainableharvesting.Whilethediscussionsfo-cusedonPhase1bothGauandEllsworthintentionallyleftthegroupofhuntersthinkingaboutnewcon-ceptsthatwillbeapproachedduringthesecondphaseofworkwhichwilldealwithharvesterreportingandtrain-ingregulatingcommercialharvestingactivitiescon-trolofalienspeciesandad-ditionalzonesorseasonsfornewanimals.Weretryingtoleadpeo-pleintothinkingaboutques-tionsthatwillbeaskedinthefuturesotheycanlookupthelegislationEllsworthsaid.Anythingwecangetisabonusatthistimethathelpsfordiscussiondowntheroad.Gausaidthereisnotimelimitforthesecondandthirdphasesofworkwhichwillrequireanotherintenseroundofconsultationwiththepublic.ThisdoesntendafterNo-vemberhesaid.Wehavealotofworklefttodo.MeatwastageWhileitistooearlytotalkaboutwhattheyveheardacrosstheNWTGausaidthepublicisalwaysinter-estedintalkingaboutwhatconstitutesmeatwastageforwhichnewregulationsimpactbothAboriginalandresidentharvesters.Newminimumrequire-mentslayoutwhatpartswouldbeconsideredwast-ageifleftbehind.Forbiggametheproposedregula-tionsstatethatleavingbehindbackstrapshindquartersandfrontquartersabovethekneetenderloinsandneckmeatwouldbeanoffense.WereusingaminimumstandardapproachbecauseeveryonehasadifferentideaaboutwhatpartsarefoodGausaid.Butweencour-ageallharvesterstouseallpartsincludingtheheartthehead.Stillseveralattendeesatthemeetingsaidtheyfeltthatlistwasnotlongenough.Theresnoexcusenottobringtheribsandthebris-kethomesaidNormanDi-evertaresidenthunterfromFortSmith.Thisisasouth-erncommunitycomparedtomostandweneverhaveproblems.Youbringtheheadheartliverthekidneysandyoualwaysndaplaceforittogo.ChangesforresidenthuntersUnderthecurrentlegisla-tionnon-AboriginalpeoplewantingtohuntintheNWTarerequiredtomeetamini-mumresidencyrequirementoftwoyears.Thenewactlessensthatto12consecutivemonths-somethingresidenthuntershavesaidisapositive.WhileresidenthuntersarenoteligibleforaGen-eralHuntingLicenceGHLunderthenewactwhichrequiresanAboriginalortreatyharvestingrightitispossibleforthemtoobtainaone-yearSpecialHarvestersLicenceSHLfromAborigi-nalrightsholders.Alocalharvestingcom-mitteebeitaMtiscouncilFirstNationbandorhunterandtrapperassociationmaychoosetoextendtheirhar-vestingrighttoanon-rightsholdertoharvestintheirtraditionalarea.ThoughthiswaspreviouslythecasewithSpecialGHLswhichwillnolongerexistunderthenewactthenewSHLsrequirepermissionfromonlyonegroupwhenitcomestooverlappingtraditionalterri-tories.Previouslyharvesterswererequiredtogetpermis-sionfromallimplicatedAb-originalgovernments.Residenthuntersarealsosubjecttominimumstan-dardsforcalibrethoughwhatthosestandardswillamounttoisstillunderdiscussion.Theproposedminimumforbisonhuntingforexampleiscurrentlya0.30calibrebuthuntersatWednesdaysmeetingworriedthatwasntlargeenoughandcouldre-sultinwoundedanimalsorendangeredhumanlives.HunterscangettrampledtodeathsaidNormssonBrentDievertwhoadvisedusinga.308orlarger.Othersuggestionsincludedemployingastandardformuzzleenergyorusingthegrainofabulletinstead.Gausaidthesolutionmightbetocomeupwithacombination.Thechallengeishowtomakeiteasierforaresourceofcertodeterminewhatsokayhesaid.ChangesforAboriginalharvestersAboriginalharvestersnolongerneedaGHLtoexer-cisetheirtreatyorAboriginalrightsintheirtraditionalortreatyareabutarerequiredtocarryandshowidenti-cationprovingtheirrighttoharvest.ThedepartmentisstillworkingwithAborigi-nalgroupstodetermineac-ceptabletypesofID.Landclaimsprovidingcer-tainFirstNationsexclusiverightstoharvestinsomeareasmeananyonenotrecognizedashavingarighttoharvesttherewillneedpermission.ApartfromthoseareasAb-originalharvesterscanstillgetGHLstoharvestintherestoftheNWT.Harvestinglimitsfortheconservationofcertainspeciesstillexistandimpactthehar-vestofbarren-groundcaribougrizzlybearsmuskoxpolarbearsandwoodbison.OtherseasonsandlimitsdonotapplytoAboriginalharvesters.AboriginalpeoplewithouttraditionalharvestingrightsintheNWTstillrequirealicencetohuntintheNWTandmustfollowseasonsbaglimitsandotherexist-ingconditions.MeatpossessionWhenitcomestoposses-sionofwildmeatorpartsitmustbelawfullyharvestedpermittedforpossessionorgiftedthroughanewprocessthatrequiresreceiptsbegivenforallmeatweighingover5kg.ItdoesntmattertheamountyoujusthavetoIDorlabelitwiththeper-sonwhogaveyouthemeattheirlicencenumbernamethedatespeciesandweightofthepackageGausaid.AplainlanguageversionofthenewWildlifeActandproposedregulationchangescanbefoundonlineathttpwww.enr.gov.nt.caprogramswildlifenew-wildlife-actNewwildliferegulationscomeintoeffectinthisfallDepartmentseekinginputfromNWTpubliconrstsetofnewrulesEnvironmentWildlifeNewregulationsonmeatwastagehuntingareaslicencesandgiftingwillimpactbothAboriginalandnon-AboriginalharvestersstartinginNovemberwhentheWildlifeActcomesintoeffect.Filephoto