Environment committee  Thank you. Based on the study criteria that were presented, I decided to focus my comments primarily on the contributions of hunters and trappers to wildlife management and conservation. First, I just wanted to share a bit of data on our organization, the Alberta Fish and Game

Environment committee  Yes, my apologies. It is 1983.

Environment committee  Yes, we still support the bear-baiting program. The way it is managed is that the areas where the baiting is allowed are in very thickly forested areas far removed from the so-called white area of the province. It's very much backcountry. In many respects, it is about the only

Environment committee  I don't have exact data on that. However, the majority of the hunting in areas where baiting is allowed is from the outfitters, so that would be from non-residents coming into Alberta to hunt black bears. Alberta is a very popular destination for that. The outfitters would have b

Environment committee  The woodland caribou is vitally important. We've been supporting and endorsing all conservation activities for woodland caribou and advocating on the preservation of the habitat for the woodland caribou. They need large tracts of undisturbed land to survive and thrive, and with t

Environment committee  Unfortunately the areas that these caribou inhabit are crown lands. They're all in public lands so we're unable to go in and acquire the land by purchase in order to inhibit some of these activities. I think it would take somewhat of a miracle to establish a framework that would

Environment committee  Many people eat the meat. In fact, I know many people who prefer bear meat. A lot of that meat is consumed.

Environment committee  There was a lease auction that came up this spring. It was for 25,000 square miles of area that was up for lease for oil and gas development. It came up at the last minute so it required some quick action as far as that goes. With a few other conservation-minded organizations we

Environment committee  Yes, we are. The way we're able to access some of that is more with regard to the penalties claimed through the courts. If those emissions have been excessive, or if there have been spills and penalties have been assessed, those funds go back directly into habitat enhancement pro

Environment committee  Yes. The one additional comment I'd like to make is with regard to the increased activities among women and youth, not only in hunting but in the shooting sports. Many of our clubs throughout the province that have shooting ranges are finding a really high uptake of these demogra

Environment committee  Take our wildlife trust fund. When we raise funds to purchase deeded lands within the province, we source all the granting opportunities we can. This is one opportunity for us to access those funds so that we can set aside different properties throughout the province in perpetuit

Environment committee  No, we don't, not specifically.

Environment committee  Thank you. That is correct. Species adapt to their conditions and are fairly fluid. In drought conditions, particularly with regard to the properties we look after under the wildlife trust fund and the operation grassland community program, we try to minimize the effects by mana

Environment committee  I would certainly concur with the comments that Mr. Crabbe made, in that we're seeing wildlife species expand the habitat or the territory they inhabit, especially the species that are more mobile, such as the moose and the elk. We have significant populations of elk out on the p

Environment committee  I'll talk about one project specifically that has benefited from this. As you know in southern Alberta we have a lot of water bodies that are created due to the irrigation that's done there. We have a lot of reservoirs down there, and there's never been any attention paid to the