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TuesdayOctober720143INDUSTRYTRAPPINGAFFORDABLEFORLEASELocatedat910MACKENZIEHIGHWAYHAYRIVERNewlyrenovatedmini-mallGFBVenturesLtd.Tel867874-6706TollFree877362-4206Fax867874-6704EmailOFFICERETAILSPACEMorebigfireyearscouldbedisastrousbiologistContinuedfrompage1.Whilecaribouhavealwaysco-existedwithwildreaspartoftheborealforestsnaturallifecycleAdamczewskisaidfore-castsforcontinueddroughtandmassiveresintheNorthdonotbodewellforthefutureoftheherds.Whatisofrealconcerntousnowisthepossibilitythatwewillgetmoreofthesebigreyearslike2014hesaid.Someofthepre-dictionsforawarmingclimatewithclimatechangeisthatwemayseemoreofthesebigreyearsandthatcouldaltertheagestruc-tureoftheborealforestinaprettysubstan-tialway.Thatreallymightnotbeverygoodforcaribouifthattrendcontinues.Thoughrecrewsareawareofkeycari-bourangeandtrytokeepitfromburningtheirobviouspriorityistokeeppeopleandcommunitiessafe.Thelatestreseasonsawhugecomplexesonthedoorstepofmanycommunitiesmeaningreghtingresourceswerestretchedthinandlittlecouldbedonetoprotectthecaribourange.AtthatpointthereisnotmuchcrewscandoforcaribouAdamczewskisaid.Wecantrytoprotectsomewinterrangessomereallykeyareasbutrealisticallywhenyougetareallybigreyearalotofthefor-estisgoingtoburnandthatsjusttherealityofithesaid.Management-wisetherearelimitstowhatsactuallypossible.TerritorialwildlifebiologistJanAdamczewskisaysrepeatwildreseasonsliketherecordsettingoneof2014couldnegativelyimpactbarrengroundherdsliketheBluenose-Eastabove.PhotocourtesyofENRGNWTENVIRONMENTWILDLIFENWTtrappersgladtoseeRCMPkeepingfurhatsByMEAGANWOHLBERGFurharvestersintheNorthwestTerrito-rieswerehappytoseeadecisionbyRCMPtotradeintheirmuskratfurhatsfortuquesoverturnedbythefederalgovernmentlastweekbutsaytheattempttoaddmorenega-tivepublicitytotheirtradestillstings.TheRCMPtoldanimalrightsgroupTheHumaneSocietyinAugusttheywouldbephasingoutthetraditionalfurMountiehatthiswinteruntilfederalministersswoopedinandreversedthemovelastweek.ForFrancoisRossouwwhomanagestheGenuineMackenzieValleyFurprogramfortheterritorialgovernmentthemovebyRCMPnotonlymadenosensebutcouldhavehadanegativeimpactonthereboundingtradi-tionaleconomyintheNWT.Anytimetheresonelessuseroffuritsgoingtoimpacttrappers.ImactuallytakenabackthattheRCMPwouldevenconsiderithesaid.WhycantyouhavebothIfyousobadlywantatuquegetatuquebutalsoastheirofcialuniforminthewinteritshouldbeafurhat.Anaverageof11000muskratpeltshascomeoutoftheNWTeachyearforthelasttwode-cadessellingacrossCanadaandinternation-ally.Rossouwsaiddemandformuskratisstrongandsteadyandearningsfortrappersat10perskinaremuchhigherthantheyusedtobe.WhilenooneknowshowmanymuskratpeltsgodirectlytotheRCMPshatsRossouwsaidthechangewouldhavesentthewrongmessagetoCanadastrappers.Itssortofamoralthinghesaid.ItsaniconicsymbolforCanada.SoIthinktheim-pactisoneofthosevisualthings.SahtuMLANormanYakeleyawhosaidsomeofthebestfursinCanadacomefromColvilleLakeinhisjurisdictionwasgladtohearthefurindustrydodgedabullet.Itsgoodtoknowthegovernmentde-fendsthetrappersbynotallowingtheani-malrightsgroupstohavetheirwayhetoldTheJournal.ThiswouldbeadamagingblowforalltrappersacrossCanadaandtheNorthifthedecisionwasnotoverturnedbythefederalgovernment.ThedecisiontoreversethemovecamelastTuesdayintheHouseofCommonswhenEnvironmentMinisterLeonaAgluk-kaqsaidthatthefederalgovernmentwillalwaysstandupforCanadashuntersandtrappers.IwouldliketoassureCanadiansthattheministerofpublicsafetyhastakenactionstoensurethatthehistoricfurwinterhatswornbytheRCMPwillnotbediscontinueddespitetheeffortsofradicalanimalrightsactivistsshesaidduringquestionperiod.HumaneSocietyspokespersonGabrielWildgenissuedastatementcallingthefed-eraldecisionanaffronttomembersofthepublicandRCMPwhowantthechange.Politiciansshouldnotcapitalizeonthisissuetoscorepointswithspecialinterestsinthefurindustryhesaid.ThiswouldbeadamagingblowforalltrappersacrossCanadaandtheNorthifthedecisionwasnotoverturnedbythefederalgovernment.NormanYakeleyaSahtuMLATrappersintheNWTproduceanaverageof11000muskratpeltsperyear.PhotoFrancoisRossouwGMVF