Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in follow-up to my Member's statement, I have a few questions for the Minister of ENR. I mentioned how we have a huge wolf problem throughout the Northwest Territories. I've even heard it from my other colleagues throughout the Mackenzie Valley. I'd like to ask the Minister: will the Minister encourage his department to open up the bounty to the same level in the Beaufort Delta as it is here around Yellowknife? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Wolf Incentive Policy was designed to assist with the declining caribou herds in the southern part of the Northwest Territories. We have a Wolf Incentive Area in place right now, and that is where the incentive would apply. However, throughout the Northwest Territories, any wolf that is harvested, they can bring it to their local office and they get $200. I think the Member is quite aware of that. If the wolf is skinned out, they get $400 plus $50 for the wolf skull, and then if it goes for a prime fur bonus, theoretically they can come out of it with $800 just throughout the Northwest Territories.
The Wolf Incentive Program is just for the Wolf Incentive Area, which is the wintering grounds of the two caribou herds that are in decline. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Our moose and woodland caribou populations are also being affected in my riding. I'm sure the Minister has travelled around and noticed the big packs of wolves we have in our territory. Will the department take action and raise the level of the incentive in my riding?
Just based on the numbers of wolves that have been harvested over the last 10 years, the harvesters in the Beaufort Delta are actually very proficient hunters. We would almost have to go for a supplementary appropriation, if we were to raise the incentives. If you look all across the Northwest Territories, the bulk of the wolf harvest is in the Beau-Del region by quite a large margin, so they take advantage of the incentives that are offered now.
This is a pilot project, so if there were to be a decline in some of the wildlife out there because of the population of wolves, then, working with our co-wildlife partners or co-management partners, it is probably something that we would have to have a serious look at, but for this particular incentive that we're offering now, it is designed for the declining caribou herds in this part of the Northwest Territories. We heard from the tour that I did in the Monfwi a couple of weeks ago that wolves are one of the major problems, so this is one way we thought we could address it, along with a number of other initiatives that we're working on.
You know, just to be fair, I think we should have the same price throughout the Northwest Territories. Everywhere I've travelled throughout my riding, there are wolves everywhere. If you go 10 miles out of the community in each direction, there is a pack of wolves, so it's pretty clear that we need action. I know there is a good incentive we have now, but just to be fair, to bring it up by $700, I know we may have to ask for a little more funding through the department, but I believe that that is a good investment because that is to help with the populations of moose, woodland caribou, and also Porcupine, which is healthy at the moment but, you know, if we don't take action now, I'm sure we'll see a big decline there. How soon can we see an increase in the incentive to bring down the wolf population in the Mackenzie Delta?
It is not something that we're looking at right now. Again, we are concentrating on the wolf harvest incentive areas where the declining caribou numbers are. That's what we're looking at right now. As far as the rest of the Northwest Territories, we do have a bit of an incentive for them to bring their wolves in and collect the money. One of the reasons we put this in place and one of the reasons we have the wolf incentive area in place is, in the past, there were people who brought in garbage-dump wolves, we call them, that were really no threat to the caribou herd. So we thought we'd have a Wolf Incentive Area, and the wolves that were harvested in that area would receive the incentive.
Across the rest of the Northwest Territories, that's another conversation we need to have. I hear the Member's point on the Porcupine caribou herd, and those numbers have been pretty stable for the last number of years, and I would like to think one of the reasons those numbers are stable is because of the number of wolves that are harvested up in the Richardson Mountains by the boys from Aklavik, the hunters from Aklavik. I would like to think that is one of the reasons. Again, that is another conversation we need to have. For now, we are concentrating our efforts on the numbers of caribou that are declining. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
