By Gerry Williamson
I was asked by the
general membership at our AGM this year to publish our
resolutions in the newsletter and website. It was felt that
this might give our membership a better idea of what the
Federation is trying to accomplish as well as the response
we are getting from DNR.
Under the terms of
the NBTFHF Constitution and bylaws, anyone wishing to submit
resolutions to be considered at our Annual General Meeting
must submit them at least 60 days prior to the AGM in order
to be considered at that time.
The following
resolutions were submitted and duly passed at our AGM held
on January 16th, 2010 at the Fredericton Inn.
1) Be
it resolved that the NBTFHF petition DNR to allow trappers
to carry a .22 caliber rimfire on all days of the trapping
season. This resolution is a repeat from last year.
DNR agreed to consider this resolution last year, however,
nothing was subsequently done.
2) Be
it resolved that the NBTFHF petition DNR to provide the
protocol for the recovery of the Canada Lynx. This
resolution comes from the northern part of the Province
where the Canada Lynx has been showing up in ever increasing
numbers. Our Councils there would like to assist by doing a
project to study the Lynx. Funding through the NB Wildlife
Trust Fund will only be provided if the project follows the
recovery protocol (because the Lynx is on the endangered
list here.) The problem lies in the fact that there is no
recovery protocol in NB because the Lynx is not on the
endangered list west of NB and the Lynx appears to be
recovering on its own.
3) Be
it resolved that the NBTFHF petition DNR to make the
following changes in the trapping season dates: a) the 2nd
week of October for the start of trapping muskrat, mink,
raccoon and snaring fox and coyote b) the 3rd
week of October for the start of trapping beaver and otter
c) the last Saturday of deer season for the start of
trapping marten and fisher in zones 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 10 & 11.
In 2007 DNR made wholesale changes to the start dates of the
trapping seasons. The Federation went along with this on
the promise that we would revisit them if things were not
working out. Last year there were 10 resolutions submitted
by our various Councils asking for season date changes.
These resolutions were stayed in favour of a Committee that
would meet and come up with recommendations. The structure
of the Committee was decided by DNR. The Committee was
comprised of 2 DNR Biologists, 2 DNR Conservation Officers
(one a trapper & one not) and 2 trappers, one from the North
and one from the South. This Committee met and ALL agreed
on 3 changes a) Extend the weasel season. (We are limited to
a box with an 1.25” opening anyway) b) Extend the mink
season to coincide with the fall rat season (makes sense as
the sets are very similar anyway) c) Open the season for
small aquatic fur bearers one week earlier Province wide.
(This would give the guys in the North a better chance at a
bit of open water trapping as well as allowing all trappers
to get their rat traps out before the start of the beaver
season.) Then this year DNR comes to our AGM and they tell
us that they can only do the first two of the
recommendations and not the third. This is after the entire
Committee, the majority of which were DNR personnel, agreed
to these recommended changes.
4) Be
it resolved that the NBTFHF petition DNR to reinstate the
bear to fur bearer status and allow trapping of the animal.
From all accounts, the bear population in NB is
steadily increasing. Bears are being sighted in populated
areas more and more. The outfitting business (the main
harvester of bears) is suffering severely due to the
economy. Trapping bears seems like a useful tool to help
control the ever increasing population.
