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NORWEST TERRITORIES
The public has until Aug. 30 to submit letters to the Wek'eehii Renewable Resources Board in regards to two GNWT proposals for a limited bull-only resident caribou harvest, but so far, the pitch has been met by resistance.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources has submitted two proposals for a one bull-only resident harvest of the Bluenose East, Beverly, Ahiak and Qamanirijuaq caribou herds. - photo courtesy of Wes Webowy

The two proposals seek to allow resident harvesters access to one bull-only barren-ground caribou tag that could be used on either the Bluenose-East or Beverly-Ahiak-Qamanirijuaq herds.

While the herds are open to aboriginal harvests, resident hunters have been left on the sidelines since 2009 for the Beverly and Ahiak caribou herds, and since 2006 for the Bluenose-East herd, when emergency conservation measures were put in place to allow the animals to increase their numbers.

Responses from the Wildlife Management Advisory Council of the NWT and the Tlicho Government have been posted to the Bluenose-East herd proposal's public registry.

Neither group were in favour of the proposal.

"We have carefully considered your management proposal for the reinstatement of resident harvesting of the Bluenose-East caribou," states Tlicho Grand Chief Edward Erasmus in a letter.

"The Tlicho Government is opposed to the reinstatement of resident hunting at this time for the Bluenose-East herd."

Erasmus states the government does not support the proposal because of the pressure a restriction on harvesting Bathurst caribou has already put on the Bluenose-East herd, the overlapping range of the two herds and an increase in the number of hunters already harvesting in the area around Gameti may make the area unsafe.

The Wildlife Management Advisory Council of the NWT expressed concerns with how populations were determined, the nature of the harvest, the proposal's compatibility with the Bluenose-East Barren Ground Caribou Management Plan, and the overlapping ranges of the Bluenose-East and Bluenose-West herds.

"At this time, we feel that re-establishing a resident harvest is premature and do not support the proposal at this time," states the council chairperson Larry Carpenter in the letter.

John McCullum, the Wek'eezhii Renewable Resources Board's executive director, said the board's role is to review management proposals and make recommendations to the people who propose them.

"The board will be reviewing these two proposals for the first time and they will determine whether they have enough information to decide what kind of recommendations they want to make and if they do, then they will make recommendations and convey them to the appropriate parties. If they don't have enough information, they will let the parties know they need more information before they can provide the recommendations."

In response to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources' (ENR) proposals, the board has requested up-to-date population counts and consultation materials from aboriginal leadership.

Counts are currently underway for the Bluenose-east heard and a count is scheduled for the Qamanirijuaq herd in 2014. The Beverly and Ahiak herds were counted in 2011.

Members of the public or organizations wishing to express their opinion on the proposals have until Aug. 30 to submit a letter by e-mail or fax to the Wek'eezhii Renewable Resources Board. The board intends to discuss the proposals at a meeting on Sept. 10, among other topics.

The GNWT set a June 15 deadline for aboriginal leadership to submit comments the department would subsequently provide the board as consultation materials, however Judy McLinton, spokesperson for ENR, said the department will still accept submissions from those interested in commenting.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.