RED DEER – Alberta elk producers will learn the fate of hunt farms
after their pitch to the provincial government at an upcoming
agriculture policy committee meeting.
“We will know after that if there are further steps or not further
steps,” Norm Moore told a group of elk producers during their annual
meeting.
Moore, a member of a hunt farm committee that represents elk and
white-tailed deer associations, gave the elk producers a preview of the
Read Also
Phosphate prices to remain high
Phosphate prices are expected to remain elevated, according to Mosaic’s president.
proposal he plans to give the agriculture committee Feb. 11 in Edmonton.
After the meeting, government members will judge whether Albertans are
likely to accept or reject the idea of hunt farms in the province.
If government members say no, elk producers will continue to export
more than 1,000 older elk bulls to the United States and Saskatchewan
where the animals are allowed to be hunted.
But the committee hopes government members won’t kill the idea
completely. Allowing special fenced areas where trophy hunters can kill
older animals would benefit rural areas, said Moore.
If the 1,000 animals that are now exported from the province were kept
in Alberta, 6,000 new jobs would be created in rural Alberta, say hunt
farm proponents.
“This could have a phenomenal impact on rural communities,” said Moore.
In 1998, the value of elk products from Alberta’s 600 elk farms was $30
million.
In 2001, that value dropped to $15 million with the collapse of antler
exports. The creation of hunt farms would help salvage the economically
depressed industry.
Moore said the committee has addressed concerns raised in a series of
public meetings held last year about the development of hunt farms.
There would be strict rules about where the farms could be located and
how they would be operated.
“The only way this is going to work is if we communicate this with the
public and they’re comfortable with it,” said Moore.
Changes would be needed to the Wildlife Act and the Livestock
Diversification Act before the farms could proceed.
