Untitled Document

NOTO Board of Directors,


I thought it best to bring these issues directly to you because of the gravity
and time sensitive nature of these issues. (Text Added: The issues were actually brought to the attention of NOTO's
workers, but the responses seemed to be inconsistent with the purpose of NOTO. Therefore, I went to the next tier of 
command.)  See the other information.

Issue 1:  (Text Ommitted regarding a forestry template- See Template Information)

Issue 2:  White Moose in the Foleyet area.  Currently there is no restriction on
hunting moose, which are white (but not albino) in the Foleyet area.  I, and
several thousand other people, are advocating that these animals be temporarily
removed from the hunting roster in Ontario.

	I propose that we make an attempt to capture these animals and place them into
protective custody, where we can study them, and significantly increase
eco-tourism revenue for northern Ontario.  White Moose are the rarest color
phase of all the mammals in North America according to Tom Sterling, a statistic
which I’ve seen no reason to doubt.  It is estimated that 1 in every 10 million
moose is white, and in the Foleyet area, we happen to have approximately 5 of
these animals.  Mr. David Ramsey indicated to me that he currently had no
intention of removing these animals from the hunting roster because “there is no
indications that moose hunting has reduced the genetic capability of moose in
the area to produce white offspring”.

	The short response is that I have evidence (pictures which are posted at
WhiteMoose.ca) that a white bull was shot in the Foleyet area approximately 3
years ago and another white bull was shot in the Cochrane area approximately 30
years ago.  (I have been told of other white moose which have been shot in the
area over the years, but thus far, have been unable to acquire photographs.)  If
it is safe to assume that these animals would never again in their lives have
bred, then it is safe to assume that hunting has not “reduced the genetic
capability of moose in the area to produce white offspring”.  It is true that
hunting has not completely eliminated the genetic capability of moose in the
area to produce white offspring, but to say that hunting has not reduced the
capability is without factual merit.  Are we really bound to wait until hunting
has completely eliminated the genetic capability of moose in the area to produce
white offspring before we take action?  Is this what the Voice of Nature and
Outdoor Tourism has to offer Ontario?

The following are arguments (Text added: which I  heard from NOTO and others)against removing white moose from the hunting
roster, and responses.

	1- slippery slope theory (Text added: Thanks Doug at NOTO):  If we protect these animals, animal rights groups
will use it as fuel to try to ban other hunting activities.
Response:  It would seem that by sitting idle, animal rights groups will have
something to organize and fight for.  If NOTO’s trying to promote hunting (which
I know it is), it seems hard to justify sitting idle and allowing hunters to
kill such a rare and unique animal, likely the rarest color phase of a mammal in
the world.  It is true that animal rights groups are trying to ban hunting all
together in Ontario, but this is no excuse for letting the white moose
disappear, as quickly as they appeared.

	1a-  How white is white enough?  Should we protect moose which have any white
patch?  It will lead to problems with enforcement and moose shot which are later
determined to be illegal.
Response:  There must be some minimum percentage of white on the moose to be
classified as a white moose.  While scrolling through some hunting pictures, I
came across a picture of a large bull, with a white stripe running vertically
from his rump to his elbow.
	This animal is not the animal intended to be protected.  Although it may be
hard for hunters to determine if the animal they intend to harvest would be
classified as protected, this does not mean that it should not be protected. 
Responsible hunters will be inclined to err on the side of being legal. 
Interestingly, the same type of argument is advanced nearly every time that new
regulations regarding fish and wildlife laws protect a group within a species of
animals.
	For example, N.E. Ontario requires walleye 16.1 to 22.1 inches to be released.
The argument was that its inevitable that some slot walleye will be fatally
hooked and not be successfully released.  However, the fear of people messing up
(or just bad luck) can’t be used as a basis to prevent protection of fish and
wildlife because most fishermen will comply with the regulation, and the result
will be a net increase in walleye population.
	It’s interesting to note that most provinces and states immediately take action
and protect rare color phases, with the exception of Ontario regarding the white
moose issue.  In this respect, we are extremely fortunate to have delayed so
long without missing our chance to preserve these animals.

	2- Natural selection indicates that these animals are inferior and should be
eliminated.
Response to the individual making this claim: “Many animals are white... that
doesn't mean that they are more prone to being eaten or less adapt for life in
the north. For approximately 6 months of every year, northern Ontario is covered
in Snow. Snow is White. These moose are also White. White Moose have good
natural camouflage in White Snow.  White moose are better camouflaged than brown
moose in white snow.  Although the MNR has conducted winter aerial surveys over
the area for 50 years, they have yet to spot a white moose. Coincidence?

I'm going to assume that you have some type of biology degree and so you
understand that all life is essentially created through genetic mutation and
evolution. Humans for example... A better example may be the snow shoe hare,
that has the ability to molt from White in the Winter, to dark brown in the
summer. Is anyone to think that snoe shoe hares were created by some force (say
God) and have, since the earliest time, exhibited this trait? Interestingly,
several of these white moose also display this characteristic, though none so
prominent (that I know of) as a snow shoe rabbit. This is not to say that if we
give them time, they won't evolve into the perfect animal, adapt for all
seasons.

Other examples of animals which are white (many of which molt), but don't seem
to disadvantaged include Ptarmigan (white partridge that lives in the artic),
artic fox, polar bear, beluga whale, TIMBER WOLF (many are and they're lots more
colors), weasel (check out the winter v. summer pattern)....

SO, basically, the goal is to remove the moose, which are white from the
population, to see exactly what they'll do if we give them time, without
jeopardizing the entire population by creating a bunch of Piebald moose.”

Second response from a pure Economic perspective - The Ontario government is
hard pressed to create employment opportunities in the north, and the major
focus is Eco Tourism. If even one of these animals could be captured and put
into a protective breeding facility, it would mean tourists from all over the
world, spending huge amounts of money, simply to see the rarest version of an
animal in the world (see Sterling letter to the minister 1991).

Does it really make sense to allow a hunter to harvest one of these unique
animals at this point, when the animal is worth so much more alive than dead,
even if caught to place in a zoo.  Cochrane is making huge gains in employment
from hosting a couple polar bears, which  aren’t even rare.  The possibility for
eco-tourism is unimaginable if we could capture even one of these animals and
put it into a protective custody, similar to a “Cedar Meadows”.

3- It would be better to simply promote how rare these animals are and as such,
hunters would not target them (Inserted Text: Thanks Todd at NOTO).

Response:  Trophy hunters don’t go to Africa to harvest black rhino’s because
the meat tastes good.  Sportsmen don’t target big bucks because the meat tastes
good.  Anglers don’t tend to mount large mature fish (like a 15 pound walleye)
because there are common.  Sportsmen target these animals specifically because
they are rarities.
Hypothetical Scenario:  1- NOTO rejects the argument to remove moose, which are
white from the hunting roster.
2-  NOTO promotes northern Ontario as having several white moose.
3-  NOTO informs the public that only 1 in 10 million moose is born white.
4-  NOTO inadvertently informs the trophy hunters that its completely legal to
harvest a white moose in Ontario.
5-  Pick between option A and B based on what seems most logical…
A-  Non-resident (or resident) Trophy hunters have a change of heart and decide
to take pictures.
B-  Non-resident (or resident) Trophy hunters specifically target these animals,
so that they can brag to their friends and get a head mount of the rarest animal
in the world, which was completely legal to shoot.

In short, promoting the rarity of these animals without some legislation
prohibiting their hunting would seemingly only serve to increase the risk of
being harvested by hunters.

Thank you for your time in reading through this letter and the attached
material.

I’m eagerly awaiting official responses from NOTO regarding the forestry
proposal AND the White Moose issue.

Joel Theriault
Joel@WhiteMoose.Ca
Note:  Please write or call if any one has questions.

Attachment :	cochrane-bull1.JPG (0.05 MB), hunt1-1.jpg (0.11 MB), hunt3-3.jpg (0.14 MB), twomoosebywater.bmp (0.04 MB)