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Spring 2014 |
Newsletter Archive |
The results are in! | |
The Miistakis Institute and the Alberta Beef Producers launched an online survey in early February 2014 with an aim to gather producer feedback about the economic costs that wildlife has on beef producers across the province. The results of the survey will be used in conjunction with results from similar studies in other jurisdictions, and with Alberta's wildlife compensation program data, to help us better understand the economic impacts of wildlife to beef producers. Understanding the economic impacts of wildlife to the agricultural community is important because it will help us keep wildlife populations healthy by:
The first section of the survey was designed to set the context within which beef producers and wildlife interact. The survey shows that the majority of beef producers appreciate and want to see healthy populations of wildlife. It also shows that they generally feel they bear an uneven amount of the economic burden associated with ensuring Alberta has healthy wildlife populations. Many producers are willing to accept some level of economic loss due to wildlife but there is little agreement on what level is acceptable. Producers reported that the impact of greatest concern with respect to wildlife was direct economic loss (81%), followed by livestock safety (66%) and increased time required to manage wildlife on their land (61%). Analysis is continuing on the remaining results and will be completed in the coming weeks with a final report due by the end of the summer. We are still fundraising to do more detailed spatial analysis with the results. If you are able to help out please contact Kim Good at 403-440-8444 or kim@rockies.ca. | |