JANUARY 2017 • Country Life in BC ncontinued from page 31


offered some of the lessons learned from 20 years as a stewardship organization on one of the most important agricultural and bird habitat areas on the West Coast. “Ag and wildlife can co-exist. There are still challenges that need to be addressed, but our stewardship programs work directly with farmers to identify the challenges and provide science-based solutions,” says Terpsma.


“Soil conservation and wildlife habitat conservation can be achieved simultaneously, but there needs to be co- operation amongst all parties, and there needs to be financial investment in an initiative such as this,” she adds. “The Delta Farmland and Wildlife Trust is truly a cost-share. Farmers invest in our programs and we fundraise as a non- profit to share in the costs of those plantings which make us partners in stewardship.”


Compensation doesn’t feed cows


The cost of stewardship is something that Graeme Fowler knows well. The wildlife and agriculture consultant has been working on mitigating wildfowl damage in the Comox Valley since 1990. At that time, the area was host to a winter population of 1,000 trumpeter swans, a number that has tripled in the past 25 years. Fowler also administers and delivers the agriculture wildlife compensation Program to Vancouver Island farmers on behalf of the BC Ministry of Agriculture. The program compensates farmers for wildlife damage to harvestable yields of forages grown as livestock feed.


“In the Comox Valley, we pioneered cover crops, Graeme Fowler demonstrates bird-scare options. TAMARA LEIGH PHOTO


helped reimburse cover crop initiatives, trialed drainage initiatives, helped the farmer identify what forage to plant if you don’t want swans. In the end, it’s all about what’s still out there. If you’re growing the highest protein grass in your area, you’re going to have the birds,” says Fowler.


The damage that birds and other wildlife can cause to fields can have impacts far beyond the loss of vegetation and a reduced first cut. Depending on the type of soil, swans can leave craters in the soil


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and pull grasses up by the roots. If geese get in a corn field early, they can eat up to an acre a day of young plants. Mitigation is one thing, but the cost of renovating a forage field is another.


“No matter what we do to try to help the farmer, the farmer needs the yield. The dollar value we are paying, either as insurance program or compensation program, is only 80% of the projected value that he has lost,” he adds. “As conservation organizations, we need to address the population numbers, address how and where those birds go with our land acquisitions, and making our natural areas better, but the farmers need the crop so that’s where our focus needs to lie.”


Letnick weighs in


Agriculture minister Norm Letnick was not part of the panel but took questions on the issue when he was in the region later the same week. He says wildlife issues are not unique to Vancouver Island and he recognizes the growing demand for resources to the Agriculture Wildlife Compensation Program.


Beyond mitigation and compensation for farmers, responsibility for wildlife management decisions rests with FLNRO and the Ministry of Environment. “We now have a virtual secretariat working between the three ministries at the assistant deputy minister level on this issue, and that’s progress,” says Letnick. “Before, it was each ministry on their own doing their own thing. Now, we actually have them sitting down at the same table saying this is an initiative that affects all of us. We all have different roles to play, but at the end of the day we all want to achieve success.”


Ensure your workers have the proper training and equipment to stay safe on the job.


For agriculture training resources, visit worksafebc.com/agriculture


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