British Columbia has committed $4 million to expand the province’s livestock fencing program until 2017.
This funding extends the fencing program that started in 2010, when $10 million was provided to rebuild hundreds of kilometres of fence lines along provincial highways. The program built 650 km of fences, and the latest funding should add another 250 km.
The B.C. Cattlemen’s Association administers the program by taking applications from livestock owners who are seeking assistance to build fences adjacent to highways.
General manager Kevin Boon said 1,600 km of fencing is needed, but continuing the program is a good start.
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The fences are built to specification with five wires and specific spacing to keep livestock in and still allow wildlife to get through.
“It is very specific to the needs of ranchers and highway safety,” he said.
It costs $13,000 per km to build this kind of fence because they must work in forests, rivers and rough landscapes.
The cattlemen’s association is talking with Canadian Pacific Railway and Canadian National Railway about building fences to keep cattle and wildlife off the tracks.
“We think we will be able to move that forward because we lose a lot of cattle on rail lines in a year,” he said.
The fencing program is part of the province’s $75 million road safety improvement program. The transportation ministry plans to spend up to $2.5 billion to improve B.C.’s transportation network.
