There is a clear conflict of…

There is a clear conflict of interest between the Crown Forest Sustainability Act (CFSA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The ESA requires specific direction for the protection or enhancement of habitat for each individual species at risk. Where, the CFSA requires Registered Professional Forester's (RPF) and a team of experts to write forest management plans (FMP) in a balanced, sustainable approach providing forests for everyone and everything, including species at risk.

The single species approach of the ESA not only contradicts the overlapping benefits of managing strategies in FMPs required by the CFSA, but will reduce the availability of the forest for other users and uses.

RPF's have been managing for and providing habitat for wildlife species, endangered or not, for many years and should be able to continue to do so without the added bureaucracy of the ESA.

Secondly, there needs to be some accountability applied to the Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in Ontario (COSSARO). Currently there is little credibility in how or why species are added to the list. For example, the addition of Whippoorwill increased the monitoring of this bird species only to find they are abundant in the Northwest. Similarly, Wolverines are being accidentally trapped on many occasions due to their abundance in the Northwest. Why were these species identified as "species at risk"?