Dave Parks and the Elk
The first elk of the year arrived at Dave and Penny Parks’ “Parksview Farms” at 1:15 p.m. on June 30, 2008. The Carlow-Mayo Township farmer was less than pleased for the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) provided no compensation for elk damage and the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) had not been successful in discouraging the elk from visiting Parks’ farm. Bob Walroth, of the MNR, said that the ministry had tried planting food plots to distract the elk, “with limited to no success.” Acting Senior IRM Technician Colin Higgins, also of the ministry, had installed predator calls of wolves howling and the ministry had contracted former employee Norm Layland to scare the elk off with rubber bullets. Nothing was working. Parks himself had bought three purebred walker hounds to augment his dog pack to chase the elk on a daily basis at 4:30 a.m. and again in the evening. “The elk are smart,” said Parks. “They come at dusk and leave at dawn.”
After investing thousands of dollars to restore his fields and with the elk poised to feast upon his third oats crop, Parks had had quite enough and threatened to shoot them. Higgins suggested erecting a 10 foot electric fence and asked if Parks had the wire to do so because the ministry didn’t have any money in their budget.
“I told they were just wasting my time,” said Parks. In essence Parks had inherited a problem that had frustrated Ken Wodzak, now deceased, the former owner. As for the predator call, Parks told The Bancroft Times, “I put on the predator caller. Those elk walked right at the predator caller and me.” Bette Jean Crews, Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) Vice-President, told The Times, “We understood it was agreed when this herd got to be 250 elk there would be a controlled hunt. Now it is double that and still there is no hunt.” To MNR Minister Cansfield the OFA “respectfully requested that your ministry begin development of a controlled hunt to properly manage the elk herd, at least in North Hastings.”
Parks did learn about crop insurance which he intends to purchase next year.
By July 30, 2008, Minister Cansfield promised to put more money into the elk program and to help Parks “sooner, not later.” (The Times) Following a productive visit with Conservation Officer Barrie Wilson on July 31st, the C.O. left promising an electric fence. By August 6 the MNR was erecting an electric fence around Parks’ 12 acre grain field at a cost of $3500, the money coming from Bancroft District’s Wildlife Management budget. “The fence will remain the property of the MNR and may be re-deployed in the future to other locations as needed,” said Stefanie Millon of Minister Cansfield’s office. In the meantime OFA Vice –President Jean Crews, pleased with the assistance to Dave Parks, has stated that it doesn’t solve the provincial issue, the OFA wants elk to be added to the provincial wildlife damage compensation program and the OFA are waiting for the MNR Cervid Ecological Framework to be posted on the Environmental Bill of Rights (EBR) website for comment. As Crews said in August, “We’re not done yet!” (The Times).
Ed Reid, Ontario Federation of Anglers & Hunters (OFAH) Wildlife Biologist, adds that it is time for the MNR to meet with its partners in elk restoration, farmers and the OFAH to get a long awaited elk management plan underway for the North Hastings Bancroft herd. “A highly regulated elk hunt could be easily focused on ‘nuisance elk’ and affected farmers would find that having the elk around is a nice problem to have. Key is to turn what is today a liability into an asset through regulated and sustainable hunting. It really is time to start planning how to derive some economic benefit from the hunting of a few surplus bulls,” he said.
When I last talked to Parks, just before The Deer Hunt, he said that the electric fencing didn’t really have a proper evaluation test. He thinks it should work. A bull elk did break in through a gate. However, in one of those weather time anomalies, a hail storm flattened his grain crop while neighboring farmers continued haying. The MNR has since reclaimed their fence for use another day, “perhaps at Parksview Farms again,” said Dave Parks. In the meantime, Parks was preparing to spread 40 tonnes of lime (at a cost of $1600) on his fields when we talked. “It’s not enough” he said, “but it’s all I could afford.”
The self-confessed “old farmer better wrenching and digging than politics,” has been encouraged to enter the 21st century. “With all the publicity,” he had just been interviewed by CBC radio, “we have had to buy a computer and get the internet.”
As for the Minister’s promise to invest more money into the elk program such came to fruition in October. Each of the four elk restoration areas – Bancroft/North Hastings, Lake of the Woods, Nipissing/French River and Lake Huron/North Shore – are in the process of planning and implementing their proposed elk management plans. However, each plan is contingent upon the private sector to match MNR funding. In short – “no matching funds or proposal – no MNR funds.” Perhaps one can make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear?