IronNoggin
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Port Alberni, Vancouver Island
As originally posted on the Alberta Forum...
Been struggling with this one for a spell so it's taken a while to get my mind wrapped around just how this report should proceed...
This will not be like most of the hunting reports I have filed, although there will be some of that. Going to be lengthy, and towards the end likely controversial for some. That said, bear with me as I relate the situation as best I am able...
Background
Established in 1941, Canadian Forces Base Suffield is the largest Canadian Forces Base and the largest military training base in the commonwealth.
It encompasses 1,040 square miles of chiefly prairie habitat - grasslands, rolling hills and river breaks along the South Saskatchewan River. It is widely recognized as one of the largest contiguous blocks of natural prairie grassland in the world, a final remnant of North America's Northern Great Plains. In 2003 177 square miles along the River were designated as the Suffield National Wildlife Area.
When the base was fenced, it "captured" herds of wild horses termed Mustangs within it's confines.
These horses did extremely well, foraging on the rich native grasses and a near complete lack of predators.
It was their success that eventually lead to their undoing. Upon the recommendation of an Advisory Committee, convened by the Base Commander at the time to review the relationship between the horses and the natural environment, the 1,200+ horses were rounded up and removed from the base completely.
From the early '60's to the early '80's various forms of grazing leases were let within the base to local cattle producers. In 1982 the last of those leases expired, and the program discontinued citing a 1977 AF&W report that grazing on C.F.B. Suffield had negatively affected vegetation and species dependent on the same..
It was soon recognized that the grassland ecosystem was now being negatively effected by the lack of grazing animals, a factor well recognized as playing a vital role in grassland ecosystem maintenance. The American Bison (Buffalo) that once dominated the area were not considered a viable option to fill that role. So, in 1997 and 1998 a total of ~ 220 Elk were transplanted to Suffield from Elk Island National Park.
The introduced Elk started off with superior genetics, and soon made themselves right at home on the vast grasslands now available to them.
With the rich forage, and lack of predators, their population literally exploded from that initial 220 in 1998 to an estimated 7,000 in 2015. A 3,200 % increase in just 17 years.
When the elk were originally introduced, local area ranchers operating adjacent to the base were told the herd would be managed so as not to exceed management's understanding of full carrying capacity - 800 Elk.
No attempts were made regarding active "management" in the years that followed, and with the hugely increasing numbers, conflicts began to arise between the Elk and ranchers / farmers outside the base. As the Elk numbers grew, these conflicts increased almost exponentially as the elk expanded "their" range to encompass the surrounding areas.
Under increasing pressure from those negatively effected by the elk, consideration now (finally) had to be given towards methods of actually managing the elk towards realistic numbers that the area could support. The concept of a huge round-up, and subsequent mass slaughter as proposed by some local ranchers was quickly dismissed. The next to be considered was capturing and relocating large numbers of the elk to various places within Alberta to either bolster depleted populations, or initiate new ones. This was dismissed by management (a HUGE mistake in this author's opinion) based upon the extremely remote possibility of disease introduction / broadcasting to the areas of introduction (despite the Fact that not a SINGLE incident of CWD, Tuberculosis or Brucellosis had EVER been recorded in any Suffield elk).
Thus the decision was eventually made in 2012 to allow hunting inside the base. A First Time Ever event that in itself was the subject of controversy.
Of much greater controversy was the way the hunts were stratified. Initially First Nations were directly invited to participate, with the expectation they would hunt for subsistence, and equally target cows and bulls. The hunts also allowed for non-aboriginal participation - Limited Draw required, and COW ONLY.
Frustration and resentment were soon forthcoming among Alberta's non-aboriginal hunting community, and it appeared to be with good reason. In their initial hunts, First Nations showed a decided preference for the larger mature bulls over the cows, taking 469 bulls vs 151 cows. It became readily apparent that many viewed these as exclusive Trophy Hunts rather than subsistence meat gathering events.
Despite the numbers hunting removed, the recruitment rate among the elk remained substantial, in fact surpassing the number killed by hunters for the next few years. Increases in numbers of on-base tags were supplemented with an increase in the number of tags let outside the base over time.
Again finally, in 2015 changes were made to the hunt stratification which would allow non-aboriginal hunters access to bull tags...
Been struggling with this one for a spell so it's taken a while to get my mind wrapped around just how this report should proceed...
This will not be like most of the hunting reports I have filed, although there will be some of that. Going to be lengthy, and towards the end likely controversial for some. That said, bear with me as I relate the situation as best I am able...
Background
Established in 1941, Canadian Forces Base Suffield is the largest Canadian Forces Base and the largest military training base in the commonwealth.
It encompasses 1,040 square miles of chiefly prairie habitat - grasslands, rolling hills and river breaks along the South Saskatchewan River. It is widely recognized as one of the largest contiguous blocks of natural prairie grassland in the world, a final remnant of North America's Northern Great Plains. In 2003 177 square miles along the River were designated as the Suffield National Wildlife Area.
When the base was fenced, it "captured" herds of wild horses termed Mustangs within it's confines.
These horses did extremely well, foraging on the rich native grasses and a near complete lack of predators.
It was their success that eventually lead to their undoing. Upon the recommendation of an Advisory Committee, convened by the Base Commander at the time to review the relationship between the horses and the natural environment, the 1,200+ horses were rounded up and removed from the base completely.
From the early '60's to the early '80's various forms of grazing leases were let within the base to local cattle producers. In 1982 the last of those leases expired, and the program discontinued citing a 1977 AF&W report that grazing on C.F.B. Suffield had negatively affected vegetation and species dependent on the same..
It was soon recognized that the grassland ecosystem was now being negatively effected by the lack of grazing animals, a factor well recognized as playing a vital role in grassland ecosystem maintenance. The American Bison (Buffalo) that once dominated the area were not considered a viable option to fill that role. So, in 1997 and 1998 a total of ~ 220 Elk were transplanted to Suffield from Elk Island National Park.
The introduced Elk started off with superior genetics, and soon made themselves right at home on the vast grasslands now available to them.
With the rich forage, and lack of predators, their population literally exploded from that initial 220 in 1998 to an estimated 7,000 in 2015. A 3,200 % increase in just 17 years.
When the elk were originally introduced, local area ranchers operating adjacent to the base were told the herd would be managed so as not to exceed management's understanding of full carrying capacity - 800 Elk.
No attempts were made regarding active "management" in the years that followed, and with the hugely increasing numbers, conflicts began to arise between the Elk and ranchers / farmers outside the base. As the Elk numbers grew, these conflicts increased almost exponentially as the elk expanded "their" range to encompass the surrounding areas.
Under increasing pressure from those negatively effected by the elk, consideration now (finally) had to be given towards methods of actually managing the elk towards realistic numbers that the area could support. The concept of a huge round-up, and subsequent mass slaughter as proposed by some local ranchers was quickly dismissed. The next to be considered was capturing and relocating large numbers of the elk to various places within Alberta to either bolster depleted populations, or initiate new ones. This was dismissed by management (a HUGE mistake in this author's opinion) based upon the extremely remote possibility of disease introduction / broadcasting to the areas of introduction (despite the Fact that not a SINGLE incident of CWD, Tuberculosis or Brucellosis had EVER been recorded in any Suffield elk).
Thus the decision was eventually made in 2012 to allow hunting inside the base. A First Time Ever event that in itself was the subject of controversy.
Of much greater controversy was the way the hunts were stratified. Initially First Nations were directly invited to participate, with the expectation they would hunt for subsistence, and equally target cows and bulls. The hunts also allowed for non-aboriginal participation - Limited Draw required, and COW ONLY.
Frustration and resentment were soon forthcoming among Alberta's non-aboriginal hunting community, and it appeared to be with good reason. In their initial hunts, First Nations showed a decided preference for the larger mature bulls over the cows, taking 469 bulls vs 151 cows. It became readily apparent that many viewed these as exclusive Trophy Hunts rather than subsistence meat gathering events.
Despite the numbers hunting removed, the recruitment rate among the elk remained substantial, in fact surpassing the number killed by hunters for the next few years. Increases in numbers of on-base tags were supplemented with an increase in the number of tags let outside the base over time.
Again finally, in 2015 changes were made to the hunt stratification which would allow non-aboriginal hunters access to bull tags...
