Chris Patty addresses over 70 people in Trout Creek.
TROUT CREEK – The Ministry of Natural Resources’ (MNR) claim that wild turkeys don’t live in the Almaguin Highlands is being disputed by local outdoorsmen who claim to have spotted the large birds in a variety of area locales and want a local wild turkey chapter to support the big birds’ further migration.
Over 70 people packed the Trout Creek Senior Friendship Hall on April 2 to hear National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) regional director Chris Patty discuss the province’s wild turkey management plan. Twenty-two of those in attendance reported seeing turkey near their homes, including those from North Bay, Astorville, Nipissing, Powassan, Trout Creek, Loring, South River, Sundridge, Burk’s Falls and Parry Sound. “I think MNR dropped the ball on this one,” said Patty. “Despite having the plan on the Environmental Bill of Rights website for comment, not a lot of people knew about the posting and it received only two or three comments. That’s a shame because you are the hunters, the ones buying the tags, and your opinions should count.”
Patty believes it’s not too late to let the ministry know that the wild turkeys are here and that this area should be included in the management plan for the species.
“You should be writing directly to Minister and not only commenting on the plan but asking to have the range extended to Algonquin Park, to South River and to Parry Sound,” he said.
Although MNR has no current plans for moving wild turkeys into the Almaguin area, Patty said “it’s still going to take a long time for the management plan to be finalized, so it’s still not too late to let the ministry know how you feel and to explain the socio-economic value of these birds to this area. Law is made by lawmakers, not conservationists, but public pressure can change that.”
Defining where the wild turkeys should or shouldn’t be live-released has been a bone of contention with hunters since 2003 when a proposal to release the birds on St. Joseph’s Island met with controversy from “a group of anti-hunters in Toronto,” said Patty. “They managed to get an injunction that, for a while, stopped release of wild turkeys across Ontario. As a result of that legal challenge, the Ontario government now determines where the turkeys can, and cannot, be released in the province. I know there’s a strong interest in getting turkeys into this area.”
In fact, that desire was so strongly expressed during the Trout Creek meeting that local proponents have decided to form a regional chapter of the NWTF. The group was first formed in Canada in 1996 and currently has over 6000 members working toward conservation of the wild turkey and the preservation of the hunting tradition.
Although it’s currently illegal for anyone other than MNR to trap and move wild turkeys, Powassan outdoorsman Steve Moran pointed out that “10 years ago no one had seen a wild turkey in this area. We know they’ve made their way up to Huntsville and if we wait long enough, we’ll have turkeys here whether we want them or not. And we do want them.”
Editorial
