January 17, 2007:
The protection of species at risk is a Beneficial Management Practice (BMP) under the EFP program. Balzac, Alberta producer Phil Norregaard received CAFSP funding to install five self-designed nesting platforms for ferruginous hawks. Besides the general benefit to hawk populations, Norregaard gets free gopher control as the hawks help cut down the gopher population on his farm, saving him money on the equipment damage gopher holes are famous for creating. It also means less chemicals needed for population control.
"It's obviously not a 100 percent solution, but every little bit helps. However many gophers the hawks eat is that much less that I have to deal with."