Northern Moose Management Program
Last Update/Review: August 12, 2002
Progress Report
The Northern Moose Management Program (NMMP) was initiated in 1993 in response to concerns expressed by subsistence and recreational hunters about declining moose numbers. Funded through the Fish and Wildlife Trust Fund (now the Alberta Conservation Association), the program was established to answer questions about moose population dynamics and to identify the management actions required to stabilize or improve moose numbers in Moose Management Areas (MMAs) 5— 9 (Figure 1).
The program looked at moose populations living in an area that extends from Rocky Mountain House along the foothills north to the Northwest Territories border — most of the prime moose range in central and northern Alberta. Natural Resources Service (NRS) undertook a number of activities to obtain information about northern moose, including population size, sex and age composition of herds, their reproductive performance, and moose mortality factors.
This report consists of a recommendation section followed by a summary and discussion of the data produced by the NMMP. The discussion provides support for the recommendations.
- Recommendations
- Moose Population Surveys
- Cow and Calf Moose Survival
- Incisor Bar Collections
- Hunter Harvest Analysis
- Discussion
Recommendations
The NMMP was initiated by sportsmen and government to address concerns about moose management. At the beginning of the program, most moose seasons were three-month general seasons and there were little consistent population data. Early data supported public concerns about declining bull numbers and skewed age structure. This resulted in the sequential implementation of the limited rut (calling season) hunt from southern to northern Alberta. This strategy resulted in a predictable harvest during the rut.
There still existed major fluctuations and over achievements in harvest at the WMU level in the (non-limited) General Season. This was addressed in MMA 5 in 1996 by replacing the General season with a second draw. This solved the problem in MMA 5. The same problem exists in MMA 6 and 7. In MMA 8 and 9 local residents are very sensitive to displaced hunters saturating their backyard. In the past when more restrictive moose seasons have been applied in the south, more hunters have come north a year later.
Natural Resources Service will undertake a thorough analysis of data collected through the NMMP following receipt of the final report at the end of March 1998. Moose management models will be checked against the data produced to permit the models to be verified and fine-tuned so that they operate with as much precision as possible.
Based on a preliminary analysis of data, we wish to discuss with hunters and other stakeholders the following adjustments to moose hunting in northern Alberta beginning in the fall of 1999:
- That the General Moose Season be replaced with a second limited entry draw in MMA 6, 7, 8 and 9. This will permit meaningful regulation of moose harvests in MMA 6 and 7 and prevent similar problems in MMA 8 and 9.
- That a limited entry calf hunt be investigated to replace some of the opportunity lost in recommendation #1.
From a philosophical perspective we will be proposing a move from a simple management system appropriate for a low human population and an unlimited moose supply to a more sophisticated management system appropriate for a larger and growing human population and greatly increased access to moose range.
