All wildlife fencing on highways not so feasible, says minister

New Brunswick Transportation Minister Denis Landrysays his government will have a tough time meeting one of its campaign promises concerning 300 kilometres of wildlife fencing on the province's highways.

The Liberals vowed to put up the fencing within two years of being elected.

The narrow, twisty stretch of highway between Geary and Grand Bay, for example, is prone to moose-car collisions, especially during the summer.

Work on 33 kilometres in the province's north will start in June, but Landry said Highway 7 between Fredericton and Saint John is going to be a tricky matter.

Because the fencing wouldbe onfederal land at CFB Gagetown, the province has to pass environmental controls from Ottawa before beginning work, he said.As a result, southern New Brunswick will not have all of the fencing it was promised by the end of this year.

Landry admitted things are going to take a lot longer than the Liberals planned.

"They're making the rules, and those rules we have to follow …," Landry said, referring to federal environmental controls.

"The only fencing we're going to be able to fence this year will be like seven kilometres on that road … For how long it might take to meet our objective there, well it might be a little bit more than two years."

That seven kilometres is about a quarter of what the Liberals promised for Highway 7 back in October.

At the time of the campaign promise, the Liberals committed $21 million for fencing, but this year's budget spends only $4 million of that.