Fires Create Uncertain Future For Trappers

Fires Create Uncertain Future For Trappers

Wednesday, July 12, 2006 at 13:31

 

 

The president of the Northern Saskatchewan Trappers Association says it could take five years before harvesters in the Churchill River region recover from forest fires.

 

Clifford Ray says trappers have lost a lot when it comes to damage sustained by the forest fires.

 

Ray says many trappers will have to move into new areas as it could take five years before many fur-bearing animals come back.

 

He notes some trappers have insurance but it won’t be very much.

 

Ray says trappers, like many other stakeholders, are also upset with the provincial government’s new fire policy in the North.

 

He claims in the old days, initial attack crews would often hang around trappers’ cabins to make sure flames didn’t damage it, but that doesn’t seem to happen anymore.

 

Ray also says many trappers who were planning to train their children this year on traditional routes won’t be able to.

 

Overall, he says the fires have shaken up their entire seasons and future ones to come.