QUÉBEC, Que.
-- February 24, 2010 -- Environment Canada
wishes to inform hunters that they can register
now and until April 30, 2010,
for the draw for the Greater Snow Goose
Hunt taking place from October 7 to 28,
2010, at Cap Tourmente National Wildlife
Area.
Starting in 2010, amendments
will be made to the hunting program. The
traditional hunt, where hunters are brought
to the hunting area along the flats at low
tide by horse-drawn sled, will be suspended.
By suspending the traditional hunt, we believe
there will be a greater concentration of
geese in the intertidal marsh and in the
staging areas. Individual hunting success
should therefore remain the same or be improved.
The regular hunt (without horses) will be
maintained.
The hunting package,
which offers two half days for four hunters,
costs $430, taxes included. Many services
are available for hunters: information session
on hunting techniques, electronic calls,
decoys, high-tide blinds, transportation
of equipment to the hunting grounds by all-terrain
vehicle, and goose storage.
Registration forms for
the draw can be downloaded from the Environment
Canada Web site at the following address:
http://www.qc.ec.gc.ca/faune/sauvagine/html/formulaire2010.html.
Additional information can be obtained by
calling 418-827-3776, Monday to Friday,
from 8:30 a.m to 4:00 p.m.
Registration fees are
$8 and non-refundable. Only one registration
per person will be accepted. To increase
their chances of winning the draw, hunters
should make sure that all their group members
have registered. Hunters have until April
30, 2010, to return their registration form.
The winning hunters will be contacted by
telephone in mid-May in the order in which
their names were drawn.
The hunt, which has
been managed by Environment Canada since
1972, contributes to controlling the overabundant
Greater Snow Goose population throughout
North America. It is also part of the Arctic
Goose Joint Venture, whose objective is
to advance the scientific understanding
and the management of North America’s geese
(http://www.agjv.ca/). Other management
measures, including planting lure crops,
have been introduced at the National Wildlife
Area to reduce the grazing pressure caused
by the Greater Snow Goose on the bulrush
marsh as well as on the region’s farmlands.
Cap Tourmente National
Wildlife Area is located on the north shore
of the St. Lawrence River, 50 km east of
Quebec City. It is part of a network of
51 protected areas across Canada dedicated
to conserving significant habitat for wildlife
species, some of which are considered endangered.
Media Relations
Environment Canada
DEADLINE EXTENDED TO MARCH 14, 2010
+ More
Celebrate the 2010 International
Year of Biodiversity with Environment Canada’s
Nature Matters! Contest
OTTAWA, Ont. -- February
26, 2010 -- Environment Canada invites Canadians
aged of 9 to 35 years to celebrate the 2010
International Year of Biodiversity by participating
in the Nature Matters! Contest.
Biological diversity
is the variety and abundance of life on
Earth. To help raise awareness of the importance
of biodiversity all over the world, the
United Nations General Assembly declared
that 2010 will be the International Year
of Biodiversity. Environment Canada is celebrating
this, in part, with the national Nature
Matters! Contest.
Until March 14, 2010,
Canadians between the ages of 9 and 35 years
are invited to submit written or video essays
that answer the following question:
“Why is nature important
to you?”
One grand prize winner and two runners up
will be selected from each age group (9-13
years, 14-19 years and 20-35) in each of
the two categories — video and written:
•Grand prize winners
will be invited to Ottawa to attend the
Grand Re-opening Event of the Canadian Museum
of Nature on the International Day for Biological
Diversity, May 22, 2010, where their achievement
will be announced.
•Grand prize winning essays will be enlarged
to poster size and displayed in public art
panels outside Environment Canada's environmental
museum, The Biosphère in Montreal.
•Grand prize winning video essays will be
projected for Canadian and international
visitors at The Biosphère in Montreal
during 2010.
•Grand prize winning and runner-up essays
will be published on the website of the
Canadian Biodiversity Information Network,
a shared public resource of our Federal,
Provincial, and Territorial governments.
•Grand prize winning and runner-up essays
will be announced through Environment Canada's
network of national education and environment
organizations, reaching well over one million
people.
The contest is open to Canadian citizens
or permanent residents of Canada only, submissions
will be accepted in either French or English.
For full contest details,
please visit the web site, at
http://www.cbin.ec.gc.ca/nature/concours-contest.cfm?lang=eng.
Media Relations
Environment Canada
