Parks Canada deer hunt project to cost taxpayers $12 million

[W921]

At $10,000 a deer, this is already an expensive hunting trip.

But the bill is about to get a lot bigger.

Parks Canada has earmarked $12 million for its controversial plan to eradicate a deer species and restore native vegetation on a tiny island in British Columbia, according to access-to-information records obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

“It’s hard to imagine how Parks Canada could spend millions shooting deer,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “Here’s the kicker: hunters who actually live on the island are bagging these deer for free.”

The $12-million Fur to Forest program is a Parks Canada effort to eradicate the European fallow deer population on Sidney Island (located between the coast of B.C. and Vancouver Island), and restore native vegetation, tree seedlings and shrubs.

So far, Parks Canada has employed exotically expensive hunting techniques.

Foreign sharpshooters armed with restricted semi-automatic rifles hunted the deer during phase one of the operations. Phase one cost more than $800,000, including $67,000 spent renting a helicopter, for a hit to taxpayers of $10,000 a head.

The expert marksmen, from the United States and New Zealand, only managed to kill 84 deer. Eighteen were the wrong kind of deer – native black-tailed deer. They weren’t able to confirm the species of the three other deer shot.

It is illegal to harvest the wrong species of animal during a hunt in B.C.

Meanwhile, residents of Sidney Island organized their own hunt last fall. They killed 54 deer at no cost to taxpayers.

“It’s crazy that Parks Canada flew in marksmen from other countries to shoot deer,” Terrazzano said. “It’s even crazier that these ‘marksmen’ kept shooting the wrong kind of deer.”


A total of $137,000 will be spent on “firearms certification for international workers” throughout the project, while $1.4 million will go towards studies and analysis, and nearly $800,000 is earmarked for “Indigenous participation.”



“Let’s just state the obvious: Parks Canada is bad at hunting and more money isn’t going to make it better,” Terrazzano said. “The good folks who live on Sidney Island are clearly more qualified to handle this and the government should get out of their way.”

[elkhunter11]

Nothing to do with this federal government is a surprise anymore, just more stupidity and more wasted money, with no accountability. The residents killed almost as many fallow deer, at no cost to the taxpayers, so why not supply some cash to them to expand their hunt, instead of wasting millions to bring in foreign contractors, wasting more on firearms certification for them, and wasting more to pay off aboriginals?

[urban rednek]

This looks like a continuation of this thread that was started 6 months ago:

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?t=427846

Can they be combined?

[58thecat]

Put a bounty on them just like the coyote but you get to keep the meat

[trapperdodge]

Put a few wolves on the island. Maybe a mountain lion or two. A natural solution.

[CDN offroader]

Here is the copy of the Canadian Taxpayer Federation newsletter. The link lets you send an email to parks Canada so you can tell them what you think about their plan. or if you don't trust links, this is the email : information at(replace with @) pc.gc.ca

Last week, you read about Parks Canada spending $834,000 to shoot 84 deer on an island in British Columbia.

The government managed to spend so much because it rented a helicopter and hired “certified marksmen” from the United States and New Zealand.

That’s a huge waste of money!

Now we have an update for you.

Parks Canada isn’t done yet. It’s planning to spend about $12 million more to keep hunting deer on the island, according to documents dug up by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

Parks Canada needs to know you won’t stand for such an absurd waste of your money.

Here’s a fun way to make a point.

You can let Parks Canada know that you’d help them hunt deer for free and save taxpayers some cash. Just click the link and a pre-addressed email will automatically pop up to send Parks Canada a message. It’ll send us a copy as well because it helps us to know what people are telling Parks Canada.

Will you email Parks Canada to let them know that next time they go on a deer hunt that you would be available to help for free?

YES – Click here to send an email

[Ruger.308]

Originally Posted by trapperdodge

Put a few wolves on the island. Maybe a mountain lion or two. A natural solution.

Or a couple of Grizzle's. BC loves them Grizzle bears.

[Albertadiver]

I've done a lot of work with PARKS and the Feds. This is by far one of the dumbest ideas yet. There are some fantastic people within PARKS but, there are also some of the dumbest, most out of touch of reality, etc. etc. people too. Unfortunately some of these dummies have wormed their way into upper management and things like this happen.

[Talking moose]

Originally Posted by trapperdodge

Put a few wolves on the island. Maybe a mountain lion or two. A natural solution.

Not a natural solution if those predators were never there….. and then what? Bunch of starving predators on the island with the people? The govt would have to then spend as much or more to eraticate the cougars and wolves and bears…..

[EZM]

Originally Posted by Talking moose

Not a natural solution if those predators were never there….. and then what? Bunch of starving predators on the island with the people? The govt would have to then spend as much or more to eraticate the cougars and wolves and bears…..

And ..... the predators won't necessarily target the correct species - they will target the species that is easier to kill ......

I like the idea of just letting the resident harvest/kill what they can, and reward them at $500/head for bounty ...... that's a $9500 per head savings to the taxpayer !!!!

[urban rednek]

Originally Posted by EZM

And ..... the predators won't necessarily target the correct species - they will target the species that is easier to kill ......

Uh huh, yep. I'm not seeing the downside.
It would be a valuable learning experience...for the survivors.

[KGB]

Originally Posted by Talking moose

Not a natural solution if those predators were never there….. and then what? Bunch of starving predators on the island with the people? The govt would have to then spend as much or more to eraticate the cougars and wolves and bears…..

Send there all the hard core criminals and drug dealers. Problem solved?

[huntinstuff]

Foreigners shooting the deer.....

An expert is a guy from out of town.

Not only should they lose the election, they should be hanged too.

[Au revoir, Gopher]

But, but, but... those military-grade assault-style weapons aren't useful for hunting! No wonder things aren't working out!

ARG

[6.5 shooter]

Originally Posted by EZM

And ..... the predators won't necessarily target the correct species - they will target the species that is easier to kill ......

I like the idea of just letting the resident harvest/kill what they can, and reward them at $500/head for bounty ...... that's a $9500 per head savings to the taxpayer !!!!

Worked well in Elkwater, and as a bonus the trappers got a few cougar hides once the Government admitted to the "seeding" program. To bad they never admitted to the Lobo wolf project on the Military base. These methods has been used for years most, just never hear about it.

[jmullin]

Originally Posted by Albertadiver

I've done a lot of work with PARKS and the Feds. This is by far one of the dumbest ideas yet. There are some fantastic people within PARKS but, there are also some of the dumbest, most out of touch of reality, etc. etc. people too. Unfortunately some of these dummies have wormed their way into upper management and things like this happen.

You said it and I couldn't agree more!

[Wes_G]

Originally Posted by EZM

And ..... the predators won't necessarily target the correct species - they will target the species that is easier to kill ......

I like the idea of just letting the resident harvest/kill what they can, and reward them at $500/head for bounty ...... that's a $9500 per head savings to the taxpayer !!!!

But then you have a bunch of red necks with guns out running around in the forest rather then "trained professionals".

It's a program being paid for with taxpayer dollars, that's why it costs so much. Do you think the pipeline would have quadrupled had Kinder Morgan still owned it and not the gov't handing out taxpayer dollars? There is a reason why glasses of orange juice cost $16!