A Saskatchewan producer who has grazed cattle in Moose Mountain Provincial Park for years says he has been unfairly banned from the practice this year.
Jack Bryce of Arcola said he was told he couldn’t use grazing land within the park because he had not used his allocation last year.
Park officials would say only that Bryce was banned for non-compliance of the grazing regulations.
“There’s a number of contraventions to the grazing program requirements, a requirement of his permit, so his grazing rights have been revoked,” said Cindy MacDonald, executive director of the park operations and planning branch.
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She declined to provide more details because Bryce can still appeal the decision.
“His options have not run out yet,” she said May 6.
The case was raised in the provincial legislature when NDP MLA Trent Wotherspoon asked parks minister Bill Hutchinson why Bryce hadn’t been allowed to tell his side of the story.
“This decision and judgment of this government have a great impact on Mr. Bryce’s life and his livelihood,” Wotherspoon said.
Bryce said he has had concerns about park access because a private landowner refused to let him move his cattle in and out of the park along a right-of-way.
He said he was told to put his cattle into an area of the park where there was no access. As well, he said fence lines are not cleared properly and fences are not repaired.
“Some fences are rotten and falling down.”
Bryce estimated he has donated $24,000 worth of time clearing fence lines to be able to get to his cattle.
He also said park users who have left gates open and created ruts by driving ATVs on the land are still allowed to use the park.
Elk under hunting pressure will crash through fences, he added, but the park won’t maintain the fences.
“We built 1,200 metres out of our own pocket,” he said.
MacDonald said there are about 40 members in the four grazing associations within the park. Each association has a different grazing area and grazing is managed through an allocation of animal unit months.
The government and the Moose Mountain Livestock Producers Association, which oversees the four associations, developed the regulations.
Bryce can appeal to a board comprising representatives from the parks, environment, agriculture ministries and the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association.
