What the nuisance bear report says

A member of the province’s Nuisance Bear Review Committee is imploring new Ontario Natural Resources Minister David Ramsay to reinstate the spring bear hunt, which was cancelled four years ago.

Glenn Witherpoon released the committee’s findings before the province had a chance to review them, “because of the recent Tory defeat,” he told baytoday.ca.

The committee has recommended reinstating the bear hunt.
"There should be a five to 10-year window (for the spring bear hunt)," Witherspoon said, to give it another shot.
"It should be successful economically, and still allow for the bears to thrive."

Only male bears could be hunted if the spring hunt were to be reinstated, Witherspoon said.

“A suspended bait would have to be used so that when the bear stood up its sex would be shown,” Witherspoon said, “and there would be stiff fines for shooting female bears.”

As well penile tissue and a piece of jawbone from the bear would have to be turned into the MNR with each kill.

proposal for funding
South of the French River the spring bear hunt would last one month, from April 15 to May 15, and one month North of the French, from May 1 to June 1.

Other recommendations from the report include:

·a proposal for funding to train municipal personnel to safely capture and remove bears when they come into towns, and additional money for municipalities to bear-proof dumps and waste containers to make them less attractive to bears;

·teaching city residents how things like apple trees and bird feeders tend to attract bears, particularly when there is a poor berry crop; and

·seed money to compensate the agricultural community for crop damage caused by bears.

“This last point is a particular problem for beekeepers,” Witherspoon said.

As well the committee recommends the traditional fall hunt be moved back to Sept. 1 from its current mid-August start to ensure berry pickers are out of the bush when the hunting starts.

The fall season should include both male and female bears, Witherspoon said, and, when combined with the spring bear hunt, would still allow the bear population to be maintained.

Importance of the issue
Witherspoon said the loss of the spring bear hunt “has really handicapped” the Northeast and the Northwest.

“The reason we went public now was to impress upon the new government the importance of this issue in the North,” Witherspoon said.

Ramsay said it was “unfortunate” Witherspoon had released the recommendations instead of the province, “because he was sworn to secrecy.”

The Temiskaming-Cochrane MPP has the report and “I’ll be reading it this weekend,” he told baytoday.ca upon arriving at Jack Garland Airport Friday afternoon, “but I won’t be commenting on it until I’ve had a chance to discuss it with officials in my ministry.”

Committee chairman Royal Poulin could not be reached for comment.

No action taken
Established last November by former Ontario Natural Resources Minister Jerry Ouellette, the committee was mandated to review the biology, literature, and geographic and socio-economic factors related to nuisance bear problems in Ontario.

As well the committee looked at the effects on municipalities and compared the effects of bear harvesting from jurisdictions across Canada and the United States.

Ouellette was given the report in August 20, Witherspoon said, but no action was taken before the Oct. 2 provincial election, which saw the minister and his government defeated by the Dalton McGuinty Liberals.

“A lot of people were really relying on the spring bear hunt and it and it was taken away from them with no advanced warning,” Witherspoon said.

He added that in 1999, the year the hunt was cancelled, the Thunder Bay-Rainy River area of Northwestern Ontario lost $10 million in related revenue.

Isn't too interested
With the report in Ramsay’s hands it’s now up to the province to make a decision on the bear hunt.
But Witherspoon isn’t sure the right decision will be made for Northern Ontario.

“Our new premier said he wasn’t too interested in reinstating the bear hunt.”

And as for Ramsay?

“We’ll find out if he’s really from the North on this one, and we’ll find out who’s thinking and who isn’t,” Witherspoon said.

“I know David Ramsay and he is an excellent person, but I hope he really thinks hard about this one.”