This response is on behalf…

This response is on behalf of the Board of Directors of the Northwestern Ontario Sportsmen's Alliance(NOSA).

NOSA generally supports the proposed changes for Moose management in Ontario, however the Board of Directors agrees unanimously that an overall increased allocation of adult validation tags in WMU's that are at/within population objective range, will satisfy a greater demand for moose hunting opportunity while not significantly affecting harvest or subsequent population health.

NOSA supports the move to a "point system" based on a "stand in line" approach to foster a more fair and simplified tag draw system. However, without an increase in the current number of limited adult validation tags, there will still be a significant level of dissatisfaction with how moose are managed for hunting in Ontario.

NOSA encourages OMNRF to continue to work with the Big Game Management Advisory Committee to seek ways to maximize adult tag allocations in those WMU's that can sustain increased demand for moose tags, thus providing for maximized moose hunting opportunities where it is viable and feasible to do so, without negatively impacting population sustainability.

NOSA also wishes to see an expanded role for District biologists who have been left out of the harvest planning process in recent years while a single Regional biologist handles this task. This makes no sense when given the fact that it is the unit bio's who understand the specific moose population dynamics within their WMU's. Therefore their role is critical in harvest management planning and MUST be included in the process going forward.

The inclusion of recommendations relating to habitat management for moose, is encouraging and NOSA would add to this that Moose Emphasis Areas be actively planned for, included in and managed as part of the Forest management planning process for ALL WMU's within Ontario forests where moose populations represent the featured species as per the Cervid Ecological Framework.

NOSA in encouraged by the committee's recommendations concerning predator management, however the proposal does not actively address these recommendations. NOSA would encourage OMNRF to work with BGMAC to look at ways and methods to promote the active management and harvest of predators in WMU's where moose population growth is stalled or declining. Evidence on predation and its effects on moose population health is quite well documented and NOSA believes that OMNRF is not doing enough to actively promote predator management to assist moose population growth in WMU's where moose are in decline or populations are not experiencing evident growth trends.

NOSA in in general agreement with proposals to limit or restrict party hunting latitude. NOSA would like to see party hunting sizes reduced further, but also further restrictions on limiting access into some, not all, fresh cutovers and newly logged areas. This does not mean that NOSA supports complete limitation of access into these areas, however by making access more difficult, it will reduce some hunting pressure and thus reduce some hunter effort and should reduce tag fill rates to some extent. This requires intense planning at the FMP(forest mang. planning) level and it should be done very transparently with rationale and goals and objectives clearly stated before such measures are enacted.

Overall, NOSA is in agreement with the general direction of the proposal as written and we look forward to working with OMNRF and BGMAC on future direction with the moose management planning process.