HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1992-02-19, Page 12PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19,1992.
Prov. document angers Blyth councillors SHARP
Members of Blyth council
expressed vehement opposition to
parts of the Ministry of Municipal
Affairs' proposed conflict of inter
est legislation.
"Have members of council read
this thoroughly," questioned Coun
cillor Steve Sparling, referring to
the document, adding vehement
ly."It's preposterous. This is the
Wild turkeys return to Huron
In late December 1991, the
Wingham District Office of the
Ministry of Natural Resources
released the first flock of wild
turkeys into forested tracts of
Huron County to initiate the Dis
trict's reintroduction program. By
the end of the winter it is anticipat
ed that up to 40 birds may be cap
tured from the wild in the
Cambridge and Niagara areas and
relocated to the Wingham District
Wild turkeys are the largest game
bird in North America, with males
weighing up to 25 lbs. They are
bronze in colour, and have irides
cent plumage, a featherless neck
Blyth
Fire Dept,
gets new
radio system
Thanks to a new $10,500 radio
telephone system, volunteers of
Blyth Fire Department no longer
have to babysit the fire phone, 365
days of the year, 24 hours a day.
The system was acquired at the
end of last year. Fire Chief Paul
Josling says that now when a call
comes in it goes through a phone
patch system, onto a radio, which
he and another volunteer carry on
their belt. The siren is set by punch
ing a code on the radio's keyboard.
Other departments having the
telephone radio are Wingham,
Brucefield and Huron Park. Clinton
and Seaforth Fire Departments go
through a central dispatch, Mr.
Josling said, while Lucknow's fire
calls are answered 24 hours a day
through the nursing home.
Heritage
72 Albert Street
Council won't
debate
road rebate
Continued from page 11
approximately $500. "I wasn't sure
how to vote at the beginning, but
there were a lot of reeves from
municipalities with more at stake
than Blyth in favour of it, so I had
to go with it too," he said.
Councillors agreed their partici
pation at the meeting was unneces
sary.
SNOWMOBILES
CAN’T SWIM...
1990's for heaven's sake."
The specific part of the draft
Councillor Sparling referred to
states that municipal councillors,
school trustees, public utility com
missioners and police village
trustees must within 60 days after
the election disclose the existence
of their assets, though not the
value, list liabilities and income
sources. This applies as well to
and head, and an overall sleeker
appearance than a domestic turkey.
They are ground-dwelling birds for
all their nesting and feeding activi
ties, but roost in treetops at night.
Wild turkeys were common in at
least 15 countries of southern
Ontario in pre-settlement times.
Land clearing and unregulated
hunting by settlers caused the
species to decline in abundance
through the 1800's. The last con
firmed sighting of an Ontario wild
turkey was in 1909. Similar
declines were reported throughout
most of the northeastern United
States.
Over the last 40 years there have
been a variety of attempts to re
populate wild turkey habitat. The
initial projects involved the release
of pen-reared game farm birds.
Unfortunately these projects met
with total failure because the
progeny of these captive birds were
not truly wild and flocks were
unable to persist or expand in size.
Trap and transfer projects were
then attempted using birds from
thriving wild flocks. This technique
has been so successful that wild
turkeys now populate most of their
former North American range.
The first reintroduction of wild
turkeys into Ontario occurred in
1984. Over the next three years,
birds were obtained from the states
of Missouri, Iowa, Michigan, New
York, Vermont and New Jersey.
Subsequent capture, transfer and
release projects within Ontario
have now repopulated much of cen
tral Ontario from Simcoe to
Belleville and northwards to Geor
gian Bay. The objectives of
Ontario’s wild turkey program are
threefold: to restore a part of our
natural heritage, to provide unique
recreational hunting and viewing
opportunities, and to provide
economic benefits from the
resource.
Wild turkeys are permanent resi
dents of mature forested land.
Much warier than deer, they require
heavily forested land which is rela
tively undisturbed by human activi
ties. They prefer areas with heavy
forest cover interspersed with
grassed areas such as pasture land.
They also require spring seeps or
creeks in order to obtain a year-
round supply of water.
Turkeys will feed upon almost
Week
Remember fflljen
170 DINSLEY ST. W.
BLYTH, ONT. NOM 1 HO (519) 523-9554
spouses, minor children and com
panies controlled by any of them.
Councillor John Elliott said that
if this passes they will never again
have anyone willing to run for
office. "I know I'm done if this
goes through," he said.
Another clause that brought some
heated comments from council
states that if a person, believing
they have reasonable grounds that
anything that is small enough to
swallow and slow enough to catch!
Their spring and summer diet
includes grass shoots, leaves,
insects, snails and salamanders.
The fall and winter diet consists of
the nuts or fruit from beech,
hickory, cherry, oak, dogwood,
hawthorn, grape, and sumac; as
well as the seeds of a great variety
of weeds. Turkeys will also utilize
waste grain from harvested field
crops. Reports of turkeys causing
crop damage are extremely rare and
turkey damage is invariably mis
taken as damage caused by other
wildlife such as racoons, squirrels
and deer.
The greatest threat to the success
of the reintroduction program is the
existence of free-ranging game
farm birds near release sites. These
birds are identical in appearance to
the truly wild birds and if the two
should interbreed their offspring
would be a less hardy strain of bird.
All game farm birds must be held
under a licence and kept penned at
all times. It is illegal to release
them into the wild. Unfortunately,
there are about 20 free ranging
groups of birds known to exist in
the Wingham District. These birds
will have originated on a game
farm from which they escaped or
were intentionally released. The
Ministry would greatly appreciate
the assistance of the public in
reporting the sighting of any wild
turkeys. If they are of game farm
origin, efforts will be made to
return them to confinement. If they
are wild birds, this information will
be of tremendous value in monitor
ing the range expansion of the wild
population.
In other areas of Ontario, turkey
populations have expanded so
rapidly that they can withstand
hunting pressure three or four years
after the initial release of birds.
This is possible because hens have
clutches of about 12 eggs, and
brood survival is usually much bet
ter than other game birds. In
Ontario, only males, which are usu-
ally referred to as toms, can be
hunted.
With the assistance of the public
in protecting these magnificent
game birds, local residents will
soon be able to enjoy seeing - and
hearing - wild turkeys in their local
woodlands.
an elected official has contravened
a conflict of interest rule they can
apply to the commission. After
receiving an application the com
missioner can conduct an investiga
tion which will permit "the right of
access, at all reasonable hours, to
all relevant books, papers, docu
ments or things of the member and
of a municipality or local board."
"If this law passes the commis
sion will have more power than the
KGB," said Councillor Sparling.
He then pointed out to council
that the document says it will be an
offense for any former member of a
council or a local board to conduct
business in the municipality for six
months after they leave the posi
tion.
Reeve Dave Lee told council that
the concern had been discussed at
the ROMA convention. Municipal
Affairs Minister Dave Cooke had
told those in attendance that the
documents had been distributed and
that input to that point was mini
mal. "However, we had heard of
only six out of 600 delegates who
had actually received the docu
ment," said Reeve Lee. Blyth
received the document at the begin
ning of February.
"It is obvious though the present
conflict of interest isn't working,"
said Reeve Lee, adding the ministry
wants comments regarding the doc
ument to them by March 31 in time
for spring legislation.
Councillor Sparling said that a
great deal of money had been spent
"in cranking out this document."
"And for what purpose? Why are
they doing this when they know
already what the reaction is going
to be?"
TRUDY PASSCHIER
Bq ■Design
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