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8 Independent & Free Press, Tuesday,April 27, 2010 Turkey hunt, hiking `not compatible' By TIM FORAN Metroland Media Group The first wild turkey hunt in Halton's public forests begins this week. Approved by council earlier this year, the Region will open up seven of its 14 forest tracts in Milton and Halton Hills to the province's spring turkey shoot from Monday, April 26 to Monday, May 31. During the five weeks, hunting wild turkey by shotgun or bow will be allowed a half hour before sunrise to 7 p.m. The hunt will only be allowed in the Region's "outlying" forests, called the Acton, Conley, Elliot, Finney, Frank, Laking and Snyder tracts. A map can be found at www.halton.ca/forests. Except for Laking, all those tracts have hiking, cycling, and equestrian trails. However, the Region says a majority of the public use in its forests takes place in the Halton Regional Forest Complex (Britton, Robertson, Mahon, Turner and Currie Tracts). The Bruce Trail cuts through this area. "Hiking and cycling users should not be impacted as hunters will not situate themselves in proximity to well-used areas as the game will not be in these areas," added Halton's chief planning official, Ron Glenn. He said signs are now posted at each designated tract entrance specifying the particular hunt and permitted dates. "Wonderful," Jim Hetherington, a member of the board of directors of the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH), said of the allowance for the hunt in Halton. However, the head of the Bruce Trail Conservancy is concerned the Province's allowance of wild turkey hunting in a small public forest it owns in Halton could endanger hikers wending their way through the woods. "Hunting and hiking are not compatible on a 50-acre tract," said Beth Kümmling, executive director of the conservancy. Kümmling was reacting to the fact Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources will continue to allow the wild turkey hunt to take place on its 50-acre Speyside forest tract, a piece of crown land located on the north side of 15 Sideroad east of Hwy. 25 between Milton and Acton. The MNR property is part of a relatively contiguous forest stretching 13 kilometres in a northsouth direction and the optimum route of the Bruce Trail cuts through the property, according to official trail maps. "We've not had an incident (hunting accident) on the Bruce Trail ever," said Kümmling. "I think there's a lot of responsible hunters but I have concerns." A spokesperson for the MNR, John Almond, said turkey hunting has already been allowed, though not promoted, on that property for years and there have been no reported incidents between hunters and hikers. As a precaution, hikers and other recreational users should wear bright clothing when visiting these forests.