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April 2, 2001 |
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Finding solutions for wildlife concerns was the purpose of the Wildlife Management Planning meetings held in early April. Once again the people of Old Crow, biologists from the Yukon government and the Canadian Wildlife Service, North Yukon Renewable Resource Council members, staff from Vuntut National Park and a member of the Yukon Fish and Game Association met for three days in the Old Crow community hall.
Solutions and actions were recommended for a wide range of wildlife concerns. Lakes drying up on the Old Crow Flats will require study. Indications of a decline in the moose population, which migrates between Old Crow Flats in summer and Alaska in winter, resulted in the recommendation for cooperative management with Alaska. The moose population along the Porcupine River will also be surveyed and hunting restrictions will be considered. A wolf management workshop is proposed to deal with concern for high wolf numbers. A growing interest in hunting sheep in the Richardson Mountains both from the Yukon and N.W.T. will require a joint management plan between Vuntut Gwitchin and N.W.T. groups. An increasing muskox population will also require a joint management plan with other groups.
A voluntary hunting closure is proposed for the Fishing Branch Wilderness Preserve to maintain an unhunted grizzly bear population, one of the most important features of this protected area. The plan recommends more enforcement patrols along the Dempster Highway and establishment of a patrol cabin at Summit Lake in the Richardson Mountains to monitor increasing hunting activity. Efforts will be made to identify opportunities to use wildlife for purposes other than hunting such as viewing and photography. One of the most important action items of the plan is to record the wildlife harvest from hunting, fishing and trapping by Old Crow residents. These meetings complete planning for the North Yukon Fish and Wildlife Management Plan.
The facilitator, Doug Urquhart, will prepare a draft copy of the plan for approval by Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation, North Yukon Renewable Council, Yukon Department of Renewable Resources and Canadian Wildlife Service. In general this has been a positive process and has resulted in, what is essentially, a made in Old Crow Wildlife Management Plan.
