Moose Harvest Planning System

We have managed the ongoing development of a decision support system used by provincial biologists in Ontario for assessing the sustainability of moose populations across the province.

The Moose Harvest Planning System helps wildlife managers plan moose harvests on a Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) basis.  Tag and Harvest calculations are made using information about the characteristics of the moose population and its status relative to desired target levels.  The system also uses information from previous years' harvests and hunter applications as a basis for comparison with the planned allocations.

The intent of the system is to expedite the procedure used to calculate tag allocations.  The system is designed to assist managers, not to replace their expertise; it allows managers to make recommendations regarding tag allocation independent of those calculated by the system, but with the system’s calculations available for their use.

A moose population model has been integrated into the Moose Harvest Planning System that makes WMU-level predictions about how the population is likely to change in the future as a result of alternative tag allocation scenarios.  The model seamlessly displays future population predictions alongside the current graphical display of historical data.