Ontario farmers to receive extended reprieve from bobolink and eastern meadowlark habitat protection terms

Thursday, September 24, 2015

by SUSAN MANN

The Ontario government is proposing to extend agriculture’s exemption to the Endangered Species Act’s habitat and species protection provisions for the bobolink and eastern meadowlark for 10 years.

The current exemption expires on Dec. 31. The government passed regulations in 2011, 2012 and 2014 that “collectively provided an exemption from the Endangered Species Act’s species and habitat protection requirements (for the bobolink and eastern meadowlark) for specific agricultural activities,” says the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry proposal posted on the Environmental Registry.

Comments are due by Oct. 21. The notice was posted on the registry on Sept. 21.

Don McCabe, Ontario Federation of Agriculture president, says the 10-year extension “will do until we have a permanent resolution of this particular initiative.”

Asked if the agricultural industry would prefer a permanent exemption, McCabe says, “Permanency in agricultural policy is always preferred.”

The bobolink and eastern meadowlark are listed as threatened species on the Species at Risk in Ontario list, the proposal says. The two bird species nest in high densities in agricultural fields. The breeding period for both species is May to July, which coincides with farmers harvesting hay and pasturing livestock in their fields.

The exemption enables normal farming activities, such as crop rotation, hay harvesting and livestock pasturing, to continue in the birds’ habitat areas.

Agricultural activities have provided and will continue to provide habitat for bobolink and eastern meadowlark, the proposal says.

The ministry has also issued a Government Response Statement for the bobolink and eastern meadowlark that’s focused on establishing a province-wide grassland stewardship initiative to protect and maintain grassland habitat across Ontario. BF