In a joint release, Natural Resources and Northern Development Minister Greg Nesbitt and Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen said the move would “enhance officer safety in the field and strengthen environmental enforcement across the province.”

The province also promised to return a conservation district office to Brandon.

“Manitoba’s conservation officers are on the front lines each day protecting both public safety and our province’s valuable natural resources. They often do this work alone in remote areas with limited, if any, cell service,” Nesbitt said.

The centralized dispatch service will provide a “lifeline” for those officers, Nesbitt added, and allow them to respond quickly to emergencies.

The dispatch service will be facilitated by a $1.2-million contract between the province and the Brandon Public-Safety Communication Centre, the release said. The contract spans three years, with the possibility of a two-year extension.

“Officer safety is a high priority for our well-trained staff of dispatchers and call-takers, so extending this protection to conservation officers is a natural step for both our organizations,” said Robert Stewart, director of emergency communications with the Brandon centre.

The centre already services emergency dispatches for seven police departments, 192 fire departments and the Manitoba branch of the Canadian Wildlife Service, according to the release.

Goertzen also tied the new service to improving cooperation in rural policing and emergency personnel.

The two ministers pointed to previous conservation and emergency services-related investments, including a 2018 promise to replace the old FleetNet communications system, $1.7 million in 2022 for equipment and technology, a $300,000 contract for helicopter enforcement against unsafe hunting and 11 unmarked vehicles for conservation officer use.

Tom Lindsey, the opposition NDP’s critic for natural resources and northern development, said the announcement “does nothing to address the staffing crisis” among Manitoba’s conservation officers.

He argued that the current government has yet to fill vacant officer positions as promised, noting “vacancies have more than doubled since 2021, with one in five positions currently empty,” Lindsey said in an emailed statement.

He added that conservation officer wages in Manitoba have fallen behind. The same jobs in Saskatchewan come with almost 30 per cent more pay, he said.

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Wet conditions in many parts of the province are making it tough for farmers to get their machines onto fields, according to Dan Mazier, president of Keystone Agricultural Producers.

“We just drove from Winnipeg to Dauphin on the Yellowhead (Highway 16) and there were lots of fertilizer tanks parked on fields sitting there just too wet to complete,” he said Friday.

Producers in the province’s southwest had a good start to laying down fertilizer, but north of Winnipeg, many producers were delayed due to late-season hail.

“They were behind the eight-ball because in late October, early November, they were still harvesting,” said Mazier, who farms in the southwest at Justice, Man.

The delay is noteworthy as the province’s deadline for fertilizer applications is Tuesday.

From Nov. 10 to April 10, farmers are forbidden under the Water Protection Act from laying down nitrogen or phosphorous during that period, due to concerns over runoff.

“Mother Nature makes the ultimate decision, though,” said John Heard, a provincial soil fertility extension specialist at Carman, Man.

Last year, producers ran into similar problems with moisture, so the province issued an extension, to give them time to hit the fields.

However, Heard said, it snowed just a few days after the original deadline had expired, which effectively closed the door on applications altogether.

Ideally, he said, you want the same moisture as you would have for planting conditions, when applying fertilizer into the soil, “in order to do a good job with that machinery and those forms of fertilizer.”

Another factor to consider, he said, is how many producers are inclined to fertilize given present market conditions.

“Talking to some dealers, there seems to be a lack of desire to spend money on fertilizer with collapsing commodity prices and maybe not a lot of crop sales yet,” he said.

Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship is expected to announce Monday whether it will grant another extension.

— Dave Sims writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Winnipeg company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting.

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This affects an area extending from the United States border on the south, through the Interlake to Gypsumville and Berens River in the north and east to the Ontario border. Manitobans are reminded that no open burning is allowed without a permit between April 1 and Nov. 15, and all current permits are cancelled until conditions improve.

Anyone with questions about when they can burn again should contact the nearest Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship office and check with local municipal offices to ensure no additional local restrictions are in place.

All-terrain vehicle (ATV) users are also reminded they can play a role in protecting against wildfires. Anyone using an ATV must use spark arrestors. Check areas around the engine and exhaust frequently, and carefully remove and extinguish any debris. Operators are also reminded to be prepared by carrying a fire extinguisher, small axe and shovel.

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ATV Manitoba says all recreational users should be concerned about a proposal in the Mars Hill Wildlife Management Area (WMA) north of Beausejour to limit how trails can be used, saying it could ultimately lead to closing down public access to Crown lands.

A group calling itself the Manitoba Public Land Access Group sent letters last week to editors of community newspapers warning that proposed trail closures in the WMA will not only be a ban on motorized traffic there, but will set a precedent for other Crown lands.

ATV Manitoba president Chris Fox-Decent said they’re part of this new group which was pulled together to defend public access to public land. “We’re grouping ourselves with all public land users basically,” he said.

The site in question is the Mars Hill Wildlife Management Area, a mix of jackpine forest and meadow north of Beausejour and a popular area for hikers and horseback riders as well as motorized vehicle users such as ATV riders.

A spokesperson for Manitoba Conservation said the province is considering closing some trails to motorized vehicles in the Mars Hill area but designating trails specifically for their use.

“There is no ban of motorized vehicles being proposed for the WMA,” said Dennis Brennan, a provincial wildlife biologist. “What is currently being discussed is a proposal to develop a designated trail system for motorized vehicles within the WMA.”

The “80 per cent closure of trails” being flagged by the Manitoba Public Land Access Group is “not a hard and fast number,” he said.

“There’s still ongoing talks with local interest groups about what percentage of trails would be reduced on a designated trail system,” he said.

The trail closures are proposed to reduce habitat fragmentation and the overall impact trails have had. The province wants to accommodate some established motorized use while recognizing the role of the WMA in maintaining habitat for wildlife, he said.

Conservation is trying to find solutions to an ongoing conflict in the area between motorized vehicle traffic and area residents who complain about trail breaking and trail damage caused by ATVs.

By proposing a designated trail for vehicle traffic, the province is trying to take “a balanced approach” at accommodating everyone’s concerns and needs, Brennan said.

As for concern about Mars Hill setting a precedent, Brennan said a province-wide ATV strategy continues to try to address issues in other parts of the province.

“There is certainly a larger discussion happening across the province about recreational use of off-road vehicles across Crown land,” he said.

Fox-Decent said ATV Manitoba proposed a motorsport park for the Mars Hill area last year, hoping to manage and maintain an authorized site and “provide stewardship to the area.” The idea was rejected.

He said his association is concerned the province will move to close more trails in popular riding areas without first exploring other management options. ATV-Manitoba has proposed staging areas, educational signage on trails and land access permits so that riders could be authorized to maintain trails they use, he said.

What happens at Mars Hill is important because “all of that is teetering on the outcome there,” he said. “Mars Hill is the pilot project for the government.”

The Manitoba Public Lands Access Group plans a rally in support of public land use at the Brokenhead River Community Hall in Beausejour on April 18.

Brennan said Conservation wants to meet with all local interest groups to talk over the proposal for Mars Hill.

“I think we just need to get the message out there and talk with all the groups better.”

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A round of “Think Like a Wolf” seminars in three northern towns was held earlier this month to help ranchers learn how to protect their herds from predators, said Barry Verbiwski, head of Manitoba Conservation’s fur-bearer and problem wildlife management unit.

“We were trying to provide the capacity at a local level so that people can help themselves,” said Verbiwksi.

The heavily attended two-day workshops were aimed primarily at livestock producers and licensed trappers. They were long on practical tips on animal husbandry techniques for preventing livestock losses due to predators as well as predator calling, trapping, hunting and fur preparation. Simple preventive measures were included, such as cleaning up afterbirth and proper disposal of dead-stock to prevent predators from seeing livestock as a food source.

GOOD NEIGHBOURS

Verbiwski, who owns property on the east side of the Duck Mountains, said livestock producers and predators generally get along.

Just because predators are spotted in the area, there’s no need to rush out and try to kill them, he said. Most common are the good kind – the ones that mind their own business without attacking livestock – and their very existence means that other potentially bad actors can’t move in.

That’s because wolves and coyotes are territorial by nature, and if their numbers are cleaned out in one area, sooner or later more will wander in and take up residence.

“We tell producers that if you have wolves or coyotes around, just leave them be,” said Verbiwski. “Unoccupied ranges will be filled up, and if those animals are experienced at killing livestock, you may end up having a problem where you didn’t have a problem.”

Landowners may shoot wolves or coyotes to protect their herds and flocks, but they are obligated to report the incident within 10 days to their local conservation officer. However, now that the season for wolves and coyotes has been opened up year round, they no longer need to report each kill if they purchase a $5 trapping licence.

LICENCE REQUIRED

However, to get a trapping licence, they must show proof that they either have held a licence before or have attended a mandatory trapper education course.

Funding for the seminars came in part from the Problem Predator Removal Program offered in conjunction with the Manitoba Trapper’s Association, which Verbiwski said has been “grossly undersubscribed” for some reason this year.

Last year, 300 incidents were dealt with, but this year, only 30 requests for help have been received.

“We don’t know why,” he added.

Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation adjusters, who handle livestock loss claims, have been advised to tell ranchers with a verified predation claim to call the MTA and have a trapper or hunter assigned to remove the predator.

The two-day workshops, held in Swan River, Ashern, and Lac du Bonnet, were sponsored by Manitoba Conservation, the Manitoba Cattle Producers Association, Manitoba Model Forest and the Manitoba Trapper’s Association, with registration offered on a priority basis for livestock producers and licensed trappers. A one-day session was also held for Manitoba Conservation staff. “Trapper Gord” Klassen, an instructor at Dave Unger Trapper College in Debolt, Alta., was a featured speaker at the workshop.

daniel.winters@fbcpublishing.com

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Recently it was dry.

According to Donna and Peter Pingert, who together run a cattle feedlot surrounded by windbreak fences underneath a tall blue silo further up the gently sloping hill, the gully runs for about three days every spring as the snow melts.

The water goes under the four-lane highway and ends up in a narrow swamp filled with beavers and surrounded by spruce and poplar trees on the other side.

If you blink while passing through at 100 km per hour, you’ll miss it.

Unfortunately for the Pingerts, and Donna’s father Frank Anderson, who is a co-owner of the half-section of land on which their operation is based, sharp-eyed officials from Manitoba Conservation didn’t.

The Pingerts have been charged four times over the run-off since a director’s order was first issued in July of 2004.

Donna said that she has entered guilty pleas twice. The first time, she was fined $250. The last time, she ended up paying $7,500 in fines and legal fees.

They went to court on April 8 to face the latest and fourth charge, under Section 11 of the Livestock Manure and Mortalities Management Regulation, which forbids the discharge or release of manure “into surface water, a surface watercourse or groundwater.”

They requested more time to prepare, and the case was remanded to May 20.

“The crown attorney said today that we have too many cattle in too small an area,” said Donna. “I said 500 head?”

The Pingerts, who have fed cattle on the site since the 1970s, used to feed about 1,200 animals pre-BSE. Since then, they have cut back to about 500 head. They used to get paid for disposing of high-starch potato waste from the McCain plant in nearby Carberry, but since 2008 they have had to pay for the trucking.

The cheap feed helps them stay profitable, and Peter said that it probably saved them from going broke when BSE hit in 2003.

“We tried to work with them from the beginning, but we found out that it just wouldn’t work,” said Donna, who is determined not to give up and close the feedlot.

“Everything we did our way wasn’t good enough because it didn’t cost $10 million,” added Peter.

Their efforts to comply in 2004 by building a catchment basin ended up in vain, mainly because their work proposal didn’t have an engineer’s stamp, which they couldn’t afford.

“They said, ‘You didn’t have GPS. You didn’t have a third party. It wasn’t an independent study,’” said Donna.

She priced out the cost of having contractors come and develop a proposal for stopping the runoff, and estimates were $6,000 just for soil and water tests and putting a plan on paper. Actually moving dirt would end up costing much more, she said.

The Pingerts wonder why they are being targeted. Their well is 85 feet deep, so they figure that there is virtually no risk of groundwater contamination, even on their sandy soil. Also, the run-off goes into a swamp on the other side of the highway, which in their minds, is an effective sink for trapping what little nutrients or pathogens leave the farm during the spring melt.

A few years ago, they moved most of their cattle farther east away from the old pens, except for a few that are ready to be shipped, and planted Canamaize there. The corn, benefiting from the nutrients in the soil, “grew as thick as the hair on a dog’s back,” said Peter.

Then in the spring of 2009, new run-off testing led to the fourth charge. On March 17 of this year, officials came and took new samples, which the Pingerts suspect will be used to press fresh charges against them next year.

“I’m getting tired of fighting with them. You can’t win against the province,” said Peter. “It’s just a vicious circle.”

A provincial government spokesperson said that because the matter is currently before the courts, officials are unable to comment. daniel.winters@fbcpublishing.com

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Hunters are playing a significant role in the effort to eradicate bovine tuberculosis (TB) in the Riding Mountain area of southwestern Manitoba.

By turning in samples of elk and white-tailed deer, they are helping wildlife managers determine where the disease is present, and more importantly, they are helping define where the disease is not.

Since 1992, bovine TB has been found in wild, free-ranging elk and deer in and around Riding Mountain National Park (RMNP), as well as in a small number of domestic cattle herds in the area. The disease management measures have restricted bovine TB infections to the Birdtail Valley area in RMNP and adjacent areas of the R. M. s of Grandview and Rossburn.

Hunters have had an important role to play in halting the spread of TB. Their participation in the surveillance program has resulted in data that was used to help pinpoint the “Hot Zone” or Core Area of TB infection.

MORE EVIDENCE

Every time a TB-positive animal is discovered in places where they expect the disease to be, researchers gather more evidence that TB is now contained within a clearly defined Core Area. This allows them to focus more resources on a smaller, more manageable geographic region.

Ken Kingdon, co-ordinator for the wildlife health program, said hunters help remove older bulls and bucks, which pose the greatest threat of disease transmission, from the herds.

Since 1998, hunters have submitted well over 2,500 elk and 5,000 white-tailed deer samples. Ideally, a quality sample is one that has not been frozen and includes the head and lungs of the animal.

Of the samples from the 2008-09 hunting season, one buck was confirmed to be TB positive. So far this year, one hunter-killed bull elk has been found to have TB. Both of these animals were shot in the TB Control Zone in Game Hunting Area (GHA) 23A. In addition, three animals inside RMNP were found to be TB positive through the park’s monitoring program. They were euthanized and removed.

Incentives for hunters

“It’s impor tant to know where the animal came from,” says Dick Gawiuk, an Elphinstone-area hunter and member of the Little Saskatchewan River Game and Fish Association who has submitted samples in the past. “The location of the kill has to be accurate. If disease turns up in a sample, then that is where efforts are going to be concentrated.”

Hunters who turn in quality samples from GHA 23 and 23A receive a “Wildlife Co-operators” ball cap courtesy of Manitoba Conservation and an extra white-tailed deer tag that can used for hunting west of Highway 10.

“It’s not always convenient to take the sample in after a long day in the field,” explains Gawiuk. “But it’s still important to bring that sample in. It helps with the surveillance program and it’s good for the sport.”

DISEASE AFFECTS ANIMALS UNDER STRESS

If a hunter kills a visibly infected animal, it should be taken to a Manitoba Conservation or Parks Canada lab for analysis and the meat should not be eaten. Fortunately, the risk of transmission to humans is very low even for a hunter who field dresses a TB-positive animal. Simple hygiene practices will keep him or her safe.

HOW TB AFFECTS THE CATTLE INDUSTRY

The real threat of bovine TB is to the cattle industry. Manitoba lost its bovine TB-free status in 2003 following the discovery of infected cattle herds in the Riding Mountain region. Fortunately, in 2006, TB-free status was reinstated thanks to a comprehensive cattletesting program by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the cooperation of local livestock producers, as well as the concerted disease management efforts of other agencies such as Parks Canada; Manitoba Conservation; and Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives (MAFRI).

For individual cattle producers, this has meant disruptions, inconvenience, and added costs because regular TB testing has become a requirement in order to market cattle. And, for the unfortunate farmers whose herds have tested positive, this results in a total depopulation of all of their livestock, not just cattle, and possibly even their family pets. Producers receive financial compensation for their losses but nothing can replace the years of selective breeding that goes into building up a productive herd. The shock of watching your entire life’s work disappear is devastating.

“Hunters want to keep the elk and deer herds healthy, but part of the motivation to participate in the surveillance program is to help out the producers,” says Gawiuk.

Stopping the spread

Through changes in hunting seasons and bag limits established by Manitoba Conservation, hunters have helped reduce the elk population to approximately half of its historic high of 5,000 animals in the Riding Mountain area. Manitoba Conservation and Parks Canada have now agreed to stabilize the elk herd population at present levels with Parks Canada to conduct further rigorous removals in the Core Area.

Disease surveillance will still be required for the foreseeable future to ensure that TB is not spreading out of the Control Zone, and to keep trade restrictions on cattle from being implemented once again. But the good news is that TB is on the retreat thanks to the collective efforts of stakeholders and government agencies.

The post Hunters Assist In TB Eradication appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

TB task force is “not functional.”

– RAY ARMBRUSTER, MCPA

Ayear ago, Manitoba cattle producers felt they were finally getting somewhere in their decades-long fight against tuberculosis in Riding Mountain National Park.

Parks Canada had signalled a willingness to eradicate some wildlife in Riding Mountain as part of a strategic plan to help control TB in elk and deer.

The eradication would occur on the western side of the park where TB hot spots occur.

Parks Canada was careful not to call it a cull. But a cull by any other name was welcome news to local cattle producers, whose livelihoods are periodically disrupted by TB in and around the park.

Fast forward to 2009 and little appears to have changed.

Parks Canada did some culling in the winter of 2008-09. But mechanical problems with a leased helicopter limited its efforts.

DISEASE SURFACING

Meanwhile, TB continues to appear. A 2008-09 capture program by Parks Canada confirmed four TB positives: two in elk and another two in deer.

The Manitoba Cattle Producers Association feels a multi-party TB task force, established six years ago to co-ordinate TB eradication, is dragging its feet.

MCPA blames, not Parks Canada, but the Manitoba government for the delay and, ultimately, the problem.

The “wheels fell off ” the disease-control strategy this past year soon after Manitoba Conservation assumed the rotating chair of the TB task force, said Ray Armbruster, a producer in the region who also heads MCPA’s animal health committee.

It was “very apparent” the task force was “not functional” while Manitoba Conservation was in the chair, Armbruster said.

DYSFUNCTIONAL

The task force represents Parks Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Manitoba Conservation, Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives, MCPA and the Manitoba Wildlife Federation.

Parks Canada has since resumed the chair and there’s now a “better atmosphere” on the task force, but the process has been delayed a whole year, Armbruster said.

He said producers get the impression Mani toba Conservation opposes wildlife culls and does not want one in the Riding Mountain Eradication Area in and around the park.

Parks Canada estimates there are as many as 2,600 elk and 3,300 moose inside the park, as well as 142 elk and 52 moose outside it and nearby.

Armbruster said wildlife have spread further afield in recent years despite barrier fencing and hay yards to contain them.

MCPA wants the province to extend hunting boundaries and hunting seasons. It also asks that landowners receive special hunting licences for wildlife on their property. Both requests have been turned down, said Armbruster.

WAITING FOR ANSWERS

MCPA asked MAFRI in August to implement the provincial Animal Diseases Act, giving the province authority to remove wildlife posing a potential disease threat. The association is still awaiting an answer, he said.

Without provincial co-operation, a plan to eradicate TB in Riding Mountain cannot go ahead, said Armbruster.

TB was high on the agendas of MCPA annual district meetings this month.

Questioned recently in the Manitoba legislature, Conservation Minister Stan Struthers said the province is working with all its partners to control TB in the RMEA.

“There is a hot spot that we have to deal with and we have been co-operating with all others to make sure that we reduce that number so that there’s fewer elk and deer coming into contact with people’s cattle outside the Riding Mountain area,” Struthers said.

But Armbruster said Manitoba Conservation is not monitoring for TB beyond what Parks Canada does. ron@fbcpublishing.com

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Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives Agriculture Sustainability Initiative Fund and Manitoba Conservation’s Sustainable Development Innovations Fund partnered with CropLife Canada to finance the Manitoba collection, with the province providing half of the total cost of just over $157,000.

The collection was part of CropLife Canada’s Stewardshipfirst program which promotes safe and responsible use of crop protection products.

“This program provides a safe, effective and cost-free way for farmers to properly dispose of obsolete products. We are grateful for their participation and for the support of our partners,” said Lorne Hepworth, president of the industry’s trade association, CropLife Canada.

In addition, 20 ag-retailers, each with warehouse facilities certified by the Agrichemical Warehousing Standards Association, volunteered to participate as drop-off locations for the program which ran October 21 to 23, 2008.

All of the obsolete pesticide was then taken to a federally licensed disposal facility in Swan Hills, Alberta where it is disposed of through high-temperature incineration. CropLife Canada’s obsolete collection program rotates across Canadian provinces and has collected more than 1.5 million kgs of obsolete pesticides since 1998. The program was last held in Manitoba in 2003 and 2004, during which time over 92,000 kilograms were collected.

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