Moose cull plan in works for national parks

[Corey Coles]

ROCKY HARBOUR  The moose are definitely doing well, but the forests of Gros Morne National Park are not, and that’s the problem.

According to Peter Deering, manager of resource conservation at the park, the plentiful population of moose in the park, about 4,500, is feasting on the young forest.

He said a management plan is in the works which will lead to a potential solution to bring the number of moose down so the balsam fir forest and animal can co-exist: a cull in both Gros Morne National Park and Terra Nova National Park.

He said the park would not be open to hunting, but focused on a smaller area at first, namely along the coastal plain north of Rocky Harbour.

“Essentially, the issue is the forests in the park have been compromised in that we’re no longer seeing the new forest, the young forest, regenerating after any form of forest disturbance, because essentially moose are eating all the new young forest,” said Deering.

He said Parks Canada has been working with public consultation groups for about three years, speaking with the public and local residents about the issue and researching the “science” behind the problem for almost a decade.

“The science stuff is all but iron-clad in terms of understanding what the cause and effect of the situation is here,” said Deering.

“When we go out and talk to the public about that they say ‘Yes, we see the problem. We understand the problem and you need to do something to somehow try to manage the moose population to allow that those forests regenerate. Essentially, they point us clearly towards doing something to reduce those populations.”

Deering said he isn’t looking to decrease the moose population by a specific number, just until the forest responds in a positive way.

“When we see the forest regenerating itself, then we know we’re at a level in terms of the moose population that moose will continue to survive and the forest will continue to be healthy,” he said.

He said the information gathered from numerous public sessions and years of scientific research will be taken back to the consultation group as well as Parks Canada senior management in the next few months.

“Right now our commitment is to take what we’ve put together from all that feedback back to the public consultation group, to say ‘Here’s what we think you’re telling us. Is this a viable solution?’”

 

The Western Star

[Corey Coles]

What does everyone think?

[Allan Nippard]

Well well.well.. haha as you know by now Corey my guts have long gone to rot with the whole moose hunting thing haha. 4,500 moose in one area ( all cows no doubt) now to analyze one must know the size of the park in general, and to also take into consideration that these gluttons do indeed have 4 legs in which to move from feeding grounds to bedding areas. now from experince i have yet to see a moose stay in one place and eat the same tree untill it was gone. and once again one must wonder if these numbers were gathered in the winter months for as we all know moose will stay close to good feeding areas with deep snow on the ground, come spring melt their back on the trot.so from were i sit i thing the young trees restore over spring and summer awaiting the sonw fall and the return of the moose.

[John Smallwood]

you can see what they are browsing and talking about in gros morne in the coastal plain,in the lowlands where the moose are year round..they browse it into a one age group forest not a healthy ecosystem by any means..for the record Allan i have even seen them eat the bark right off the trees when there is not enough feed left, let alone eat enough branches on fir to kill a whole stand of regen over a couple seasons as the fresh growth comes in but is eaten before the tree gets a fighting chance....see those grassy "hang of the hills" with those white sticks in them....thats all moose kill...no new regenerate growth,just the odd "lollypop" birch they couldnt crack off and black spruce with all fir gone or just a stick with 4 inch branches pruned right to the bole of the tree..fresh growth,the staple for many species, being gone,eliminates species from the park....you have seen a moose eat a tree till it was gone or just outright rip it down and kill it a million times just didnt realize what you were looking at....by the way a moose is an edge species as are grouse rabbits birds of prey fox and so on...destroy the edge feed and many native species are forced out of a huge area...during the summer the same moose will live in the same area till they have all the fresh growth eaten with a home range of about 1-2 km ...sounds like a big area but when you consider they feed on the edges in that area it becomes not a very big feed plot in a hurry...moose feed in the edges bed down in the woods,usually 100 yards or less from the edge they were feeding on that morning...in fact we always get a kick out of hunters who say "I saw a nice bull on the bog this morning but he went in the woods"....if they didnt spook it the moose went about 50 yards and laid down right where they saw it last....thats how we hunt them on the hills wait for them to go in the woods then stalk in on them...moose stick to the edge.