an e-meil I recieved this am
This should be compulsory reading for any Alberta resident who thinks he / she
would like to continue hunting without paying big dollars, without having to
line up behind non residents and without having to beg or pay nonresidents for
access. Nowicki sounds to me like he's trying to privatize hunting and hunting
lands for personal gain and control by those with the most money, and whether
Albertans believe it or not, that means non residents. This collusion between a
very ugly provincial government, privatized distribution of allocations, and
guides/outfitters trying to (having succeeded in) wrestle control of permitting
from public officials into the hands of "business", is a threat to the public
interest, to hunting, to wildlife, to biological diversity (grass and meat
eaters), and to democracy.
I don't expect any positive changes with this fundamentalist conservative
government, particularly with a democratically and intellectually challenged
Stelmach in charge, but Alberta hunters should be up in arms, and so should
their "good old boy" club, the Alberta Fish and Game Association. I wonder if
they've got the back bone?
The divisions this privatization of wildlife and hunting has created are now
so deep that you can barely find a rancher / farmer who will back up public
resident hunters. And wait until the dollars begin to flow; we'll see how many
allow residents access! And you cant find an outfitter / guide who will side
with Resident hunters. The three factions (rancher-land owner-leasee vs
resident hunter vs guide/outfitter) have forgotten the rule that even first
graders used to know, and that is that habitat and security are essential for
wildlife populations; they've forgotten, in some cases deliberately (Nowicki
seems like a good example) that wildlife is public property, and they've
apparently forgotten that divided almost everyone "falls".
Dark clouds building!
regards,
Here is the rest of the story
Big Changes Coming In Alberta Deer Hunting
(Editor Note: As a practicing attorney with a specialty in hunting-related
matters, correspondent Ken Nowicki knows more about hunting in southern
Canada
than anyone we know. Here's his take on where deer hunting is headed in his
home province of Alberta.)
I have been watching the development of Alberta whitetail deer outfitting for
the past 20 years. In the early 80s, the industry was small and operators
were
free to hunt anywhere in the province with no restrictions on hunter numbers.
Nowadays, deer outfitters are governed by a self-regulated outfitter society.
Outfitters own allocations for specific zones, and they are restricted to
hunting in those zones and by the number of allocations they hold.
Make no mistake - big sums of money are involved here. Deer allocations in
Alberta are changing hands for upwards of $20,000 and individual hunts are
selling for as much as $5,000. The new system has turned what used to be a
good-
old-boy activity into a genuine business run by professionals. One big change
hunters have seen is a change in hunting technique. The days of pickup trucks
and "run and gun" are long gone. This is because the law now requires
outfitters to have permission to enter any private lands they hunt. "Access
is
the single biggest issue we have," reports Ryk Visscher, president of the
Alberta Professional Outfitters Association (APOS).
The reason access is so tough an issue in Alberta is a quirk in the law that
makes it illegal for anyone to pay a landowner for access to hunt. An
outfitter
is not even supposed to ask for exclusive rights to hunt on private land, let
alone pay for it, according to Visscher. The unusual access law is supported
by
resident hunters who feared a complete takeover of their hunting by
nonresidents. What it's done is push outfitters in the direction of
purchasing
land themselves, often with the help of long term hunting clients. Some
outfitters are soliciting cash loans from clients and/or involving them in
land
mortgages in return for long-term hunting privileges. Other outfitters are
going out of their way to hire farmers and ranchers as guides in order to
obtain the access that goes along with the hire.
What does all this mean for the nonresident hunter looking to buy a single
hunt
in Alberta, or perhaps get more deeply involved in the province? Well, I
think
first of all it pays to ask your outfitter what method of hunting will be
employed for your hunt. The best success nowadays seems to come from stand-
hunting operations. Secondly, I think you need to ask whether your hunt will
be
conducted on public or private land and, more specifically, whether or not
the
access is exclusive. It should be noted that no permission is needed to hunt
on
public land in Alberta and that the entire province is a patchwork of public
and private land. This information has to be filtered through success rates
as
well. There are outfitters who produce terrific deer on public lands, even
where they are subject to competition from other outfitters and from resident
hunters. Still, there is something wonderful about having complete control of
hunting lands.
The prospective Alberta deer hunter should also find out what type of
operation
his outfitter runs. Does he sell multi-year packages, or is he involved with
any hunters who have invested to get a long-term "lease?" Will these hunters
get the best hunts? I have no doubt that more and more outfitters and hunters
are going to collaborate in this fashion. The Texas-style deer lease or high-
fence operation will likely never be in favor or even possible in Alberta,
but
the quality hunting that is made possible through land ownership is getting
more prevalent.
Foreign ownership of farmland in Alberta, incidentally, is not possible at
this
time. However, a nonresident can take out a mortgage and contract a lease
arrangement with an outfitter or Alberta resident, assuring one of good
hunting
in the context of a safe investment. As a lawyer, I have brokered many of
these
deals, and some US investors have actually cashed out on increased land
prices
in recent years. Unfortunately, the plummeting value of the Canadian dollar
has
hurt that upside to some extent. The gamble today seems to be whether the US
dollar will rise even further against our currency.
The development to watch is the ongoing implementation of NAFTA (North
American
Free Trade Act). Already, it is legal for an American to own and operate a
hunting business in Saskatchewan. Here in Alberta, a foreigner can own a
license to outfit bird hunts. I believe it is only a matter of lodging the
right challenge to our laws and Americans will gain the right to hold deer
allocations as well. In point of fact, I have already been retained by an
American who has spent a lot of money bankrolling a deer and bear outfit in
Alberta. He wants me to get him the right to hold the allocations in his
name.
Then he can realize his dream of working in the hunting business. I expect
the
challenge will take a year or more to wind through the court system.
Clearly, NAFTA is beginning to open up a lot of new avenues for American
hunters. Over the years, I have handled many investments in Canadian
outfitting
in the Yukon and British Columbia, as well as in Alberta. One continuing
problem is, banks have trouble understanding the outfitting business. This
makes it hard for the beginning outfitter to obtain conventional financing,
which is what pushes them toward friends and would-be hunters for the money
to
buy and operate a start-up outfit. Security for the investor has always been
one of the key issues. There are legions of stories of investors who have
been
taken by poorly papered arrangements with a backwoods sharpie. It is better
to
get things organized properly with legal advice right from the start.
(Postscript: Ken Nowicki tells us, incidentally, that Alberta Professional
Outfitters Association publishes a list of outfitters that is must reading by
anyone contemplating a hunt in the province.)