Two billboards for the Cow Moose Sign project have arrived in Topley and will be going up this month.
The two signs will be on Highway 16 (Hwy. 16) between Burns Lake and Houston at the property of Topley residents, Kyla and Jim Neville. Jim and his family have lived in the area all of their lives while Kyla moved there in 1996.
“I have always had a soft spot for moose. I saw Dan’s signs and message and agree with it. I reached out because of my location on Hwy. 16, I knew it would give the project great exposure. I had originally only expected to maybe get one sign, to get two was amazing,” said Kyla.
The project spearheaded by Dan and Vivian Simmons, who are residents of Williams Lake, was started in 2014 to stop the harvesting of cow moose in the province. Their billboards can be seen across several highways all over the province. The couple has also put up over thousand signs all across the province, urging the provincial government to stop the antlerless moose hunt.
Simmons worked on this project with the Nevilles, as well as with Burns Lake councillor Charlie Rensby, MLA John Rustad, MLA Ellis Ross and several businesses and residents of the Bulkley Valley and Lakes District area for seven months.
“We are both big game hunters who believe in responsible harvesting and protecting our moose population for future generations. We have seen a huge decline in our moose populations and have seen first hand the devastation caused to an area where cow moose have been hunted,” said Kyla. “It’s an important message and the billboards will hopefully help get that message out and promote the change that is needed to protect our moose.”
The Nevilles plan to have the signs up for as long as they stand and said that although they have no plans to sell their property, if they ever sold it, they hoped that the future owners would support the project as well.
The project, which is around $10,000 including the printing, mounting, construction, builder work etc. is expected this month. While the two large billboards have already made it to Topley to the Neville’s property, they have not been installed yet and the couple is waiting for the sites to dry up more before installing the signs.
Priyanka Ketkar
Multimedia journalist
@PriyankaKetkar
priyanka.ketkar@ldnews.net
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