No mention made of Fish & Wildlife in ESRD re-structuring! 07/04/12
Edmonton... Alberta's largest conservation group, the Alberta Fish & Game Association (AFGA), is concerned that the newly formed Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development department has created seven internal divisions none of which directly include any reference to fish or wildlife. In an internal document received by AFGA, Deputy Minister Dana Woodworth outlined the divisions as follows:
Strategy Division
Policy Division
Operations Division
Corporate Division
Integrated Resource Management Planning Division
Forestry Division
Transformation and Integration Division
The document continues stating"...this move has an impact on people, all of us. Old relationships will change or be redefined, and new ones will be built". This undoubtedly a euphemism for career-ending lay-offs which can potentially further damage wildlife management as experts in their fields may be let out to pasture.
This re-structuring creates many unanswered questions such as who looks after fish and wildlife, who enforces the Wildlife Act, how and who will monitor populations, will each of the divisions have a small part of fish and wildlife management and if so how well will they communicate with each other? The list goes on.
"We, as the Alberta Fish and Game Association, hope with all sincerity that these changes will keep fish and wildlife in the forefront and that it will be a better way of doing business, however at this point in time the fact that no mention is made of these two important resources provides us reason for grave concern", said AFGA President Conrad Fennema.
The Alberta Fish and Game Association is a not-for-profit volunteer organization proud to serve Albertans in the promotion of the wise use of our fish and wildlife resources and the conservation of their habitats. The AFGA has been active since 1908 in working towards these goals and has a province-wide membership of more than 21,500 individuals spread among 90+ Clubs. |
