URGENT: ACTION by February 12 - Sandhill Crane hunt proposed for Ontario (anyone can submit comments by deadline)

[Sheldon McGregor]

Executive Summary - send emails to oppose to email at bottom of this note!

People may have received this information from other sources but likely many have not heard of this proposal.

There is a proposal that Sandhill Cranes be hunted in various parts of Ontario.  This has been something the OFAH (Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters) has been angling/lobbying towards for a number of years.  As audacious as it sounds this is the same group that only a few years ago got the hunting of Mourning Doves legalized in Ontario so the effort must not be underestimated.

Commenting with logic and facts is critical to getting this proposal rejected.

In my opinion the OFAH will and has resorted to any thread which sells and can rile up certain fears/segments of the population. These claims include:

• that they damage potato crops in northern Ontario (I would be very interested to now how many acres of potato are actually grown in the clay belt)  
• that they extract a meaningful percentage of specific corn seeds from the ground before they have a chance to sprout
• I even heard an OFAH "biologist" interviewed on CBC radio claiming that hunting Sandhill Cranes could help solve food insecurity
  
  

In the last 40 years the population of Sandhill crane has increased but that has been a VERY slow process.  These birds have very low reproduction rates.  Hunting is likely to reverse these gains.

I would also point out that hunting would deter people from visiting areas where Sandhill Cranes are present.  There are certainly more bird watchers than hunters and lost tourism and bird watching to see these spectacular birds especially on their migratory staging groups is clearly more important.

The ECCC report on this topic is also attached above and I encourage you to read and extract/form points of argument for your comments using some of this content.

This is another link covering the proposal (it is lengthy but if you quickly scroll through you will see the sections covering Sandhill Crane hunts proposed in both Ontario and Quebec).

https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/migratory-game-bird-hunting/consultation-process-regulations/report-series/proposals-amend-document-2026.html#toc2

The most IMPORTANT part is that to comment you must do so by FEBRUARY 12 to the following (email is likely best way):

Director of Wildlife Management and Regulatory Affairs

Wildlife Management Directorate

Canadian Wildlife Service

Environment and Climate Change Canada

351 St. Joseph Boulevard, Gatineau QC K1A 0H3

Email: MbregsReports-...@ec.gc.ca

I truly hope many people will take a few minutes to write meaningful comments on this topic.

Sheldon