Topics of Interest

Klappan River Blockade: Letter to Ministry of Environment

Northwest Fish & Wildlife Conservation Association

137 Parry Place

Prince Rupert, B.C.

V8J 4B1

December 29, 2009

Mr. Ralph Archibald

Environmental Stewardship Division

Ministry of Environment

Box 9339 Stn. Prov. Gov’t.

Victoria B.C. V8W 9M1

Re – Klappan River Road Blockade and Subsequent Proposed Wildlife Management Changes.

Dear Ralph,

The Northwest Fish and Wildlife Conservation Association membership (The Regional Branch of the B.C. Wildlife Federation), wish to express their extreme disgust and frustration towards the illegal road blockade on the Klappan River Road that occurred in September of this year.

Government and the two policing agencies responsible for enforcing the law failed to protect legal rights, opportunities, property and safety of many citizens. The illegal behavior of certain Tahltan Band Members and lack of punishment for their illegal behavior now demonstrates to First Nations people that breaking the law leads to successful campaigning that discriminates and unjustly hinders other law abiding citizens of British Columbia .

Government behavior and subsequent lack of action by policing agencies makes a mockery of the Canadian Justice System, now viewed by us as an internal attach on our Sovereignty!

At the Skeena Hunters Advisory Committee meeting held Dec. 12, 2009 in Smithers. Regional M.O.E. Manager Tom Bell revealed to the committee a joint proposal from M.O.E. staff and the Tahltan Band that would unjustly impact resident hunters of British Columbia. Reducing the hunting season for moose in Region 6-19 to 6-29 by 30 days, reducing the hunting season by 60 days in portions of 6-20 and putting the Stikine, Pitman and Chuckachida Rivers on L.E.H. for moose are management proposals that are neither scientifically or socially defensible.

It is our contention that the illusion of scarcity being promoted by certain members of the Tahltan Band is part of a propaganda smear campaign to deliberately discredit resident hunters.

It is also our contention and supported by M.O.E. Biologists that the moose populations in regions 6-19 thru 6-29 are robust and no infringement of Aboriginal hunting rights exists.

While we are prepared to enter into further discussion with your staff in Smithers regarding a game check station on the Klappan River Road it would be our expectation that the station would be run professionally and without prejudice and that all hunters including guided non-residents and F.N. be obliged to report their activity and success.

We are also prepared to discuss with your Smithers staff logistics and workability of a compulsory inspection center at or near Tatogga Lake Resort. Again we would expect all hunters including F.N. and non-residents to report their harvest.

Our members feel that they as resident hunters have been deliberately targeted with no mention of the harvest and impact of non-residents. We are aware that for many species in the area harvest is dominated by non-residents and not residents as touted by some.

Spatsizi, Stikine, Chuckachita, Pitman and Edziza areas are prime examples.

In closing I wish to point out that revising hunting regulations and then doing inventory work is completely backwards. There are no conservation concerns for moose anywhere in the area of concern but there is certainly an optics issue.

May we suggest running the game check station, doing inventory work and then come back to the table to see if management changes are required.

Yours in Conservation

Ken Franzen – Chair N.F.W.C.A.

c.c. Tom Ethier – Director Fish & Wildlife M.O.E.

Tom Bell Region 6 Manager M.O.E.

B.C. Wildlife Federation Membership

January 5th, 2010 | Tags: , , , , | Category: Allocation, First Nation Issues, Hunting Issues, Politics | Comments are closed

B.C. hunters betrayed by government

By: Wayne Moore

Castanet.net
December 4, 2009
http://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna/51240/B-C-hunters-betrayed-by-government

Hunters and fishermen with B.C. residency feel they are being betrayed by their own government.

The B.C. Wildlife Federation’s Political Action Alliance is fighting what it feels is reverse discrimination in a battle with the Guide-Outfitters Association of B.C.

BCWF spokesman Rich Petersen says resident hunters are losing out to out-of-province hunters.

In some areas of the province, Petersen says hunting opportunities run 70-30 in favour of out-of-province hunters.

“B.C. resident hunters are losing a lot of hunting opportunities,” says Petersen.

“The chances of a local resident obtaining a hunting tag are slim to none.”

Petersen says the problem lies with both the provincial government and the Guide Outfitters Association of B.C.

He says there is a government policy, the Allocation Policy, which determines the percentage of hunting opportunities that go to residents and those that go to non-residents.

“Negotiations began in 2004 on a new policy. After two-and-a-half year of negotiations, it was adopted in 2007. It has not been implemented due to political pressure from GOABC.”

Petersen says the new guidelines were supposed to be implemented in 2010.

“Government has been asked to forestall implementation until 2017. In the meantime, government has been reluctant to follow the allocation policy, mostly at the regional level.”

According to Petersen, who was involved in negotiations, the B.C. Wildlife Federation was very fair in dealings with GOABC.

He says they agreed to a larger reserve for out-of-province hunters than any other jurisdiction in Western Canada or the Western United States.

For example, Petersen says in Region Six (Skeena/Smithers area), local residents are supposed to be harvesting a minimum of 60 per cent but are getting only 30 per cent.

“The government is supposed to remove the barriers that are affecting residents success. They have refused to do that, mainly through pressure from the guiding industry.”

Peterson claims the guiding industry charge every non-resident hunter $150 which goes directly into a GOABC fund which they use to lobby the government to protect non-resident hunting issues.

“They have been fairly effective with that. We are a volunteer organization. We don’t have that kind of money.”

There are, according to Petersen, about 5,000 non-resident hunters coming into the province every year.

Petersen says the BCWF has started its own fund in hopes of using that money to lobby the government as well.

“We are just trying to get priority for resident hunters back on track in the province.”

**********************
BCWF Political Action Alliance

http://bcwfpaa.wordpress.com/

The world is run by those who show up.

December 5th, 2009 | Category: Allocation, Angling Issues, Hunting Issues, Politics | Comments are closed

BCWF concerns re motor vehicle hunting restrictions in MUs 7-40 and 7-41

“We are writing on behalf of the BC Wildlife Federation membership to address concerns regarding a request for motor vehicle hunting prohibition for Management Units 7-40 and 7-41 in the Omineca Region for hunting during the period of August 15th to September 30th. BC
Wildlife Federation cannot support this regulation proposal because of the dangerous precedent it would set.”

Read the complete letter here:  Letter re Proposed Hunting Regs Change Concerns

November 12th, 2009 | Tags: , | Category: Allocation, Hunting Issues, Moose Hunting, Region 7 Omineca | Comments are closed

BCWF withdraws from Provincial Hunting, Regulations and Allocations Advisory Committee (PHRAAC) process

“We must inform you a decision has been made albeit with some regret, that the BC Wildlife Federation (BCWF) withdraw from participating on the Provincial Hunting, Regulations and Allocations Advisory Committee (PHRAAC). This decision was not easy for the BCWF Wildlife & Allocations Committee but the decision was unanimous. We valued the opportunity to provide input to the process when it was positive and productive but unfortunately we feel this is no longer the case.”

To read the complete letter: BCWF Withdraws from PHRAAC process

November 11th, 2009 | Tags: , , | Category: Allocation, Hunting Issues | Comments are closed

Did You Know

The recent promotion that was placed in newspapers across BC by the Guide Outfitters Association of BC (GOABC) has spawned a lively and emotional discussion on HuntingBC.ca.

In January 2009, GOABC presented a paper titled The Guide Outfitter Industry in British Columbia_Challenges and New Opportunities.  This paper outlines GOABC’s position on what needs to be done to support a viable guide outfitting business in BC. While one can’t blame GOABC for putting forward strategies to help with their viability as small businesses, the real issue for resident hunters and wildlife is that the government often seems to be far too sympathetic to the the requests of  businesses such as GOABC and the British Columbia Cattlemen’s Association.

The content of the GOABC viability document seems to be at odds with what they are saying publicly in the newspaper ads. Here are some examples:

In the newspaper ad GOABC  says “wildlife stewardship is our priority.”

In the viability paper GOABC says “A primary objective of the Guide Outfitters Association of British Columbia (GOABC) is to promote the continued economic viability of the industry.”

and

In the newspaper ad GOABC  says they “recognize that, after the needs of First Nations are met, the resident hunters of B.C. are given priority with hunting opportunities”.

In the viability paper GOABC says “it is important that the hunting seasons are aligned and consistent to provide equal opportunity to the recreational hunters and commercial hunting industry.”

“If there is a conservation concern or a need to control the harvest then guides should be on quotas and the recreational hunters should be on Limited Entry Hunting (LEH).”

and

In the newspaper ad GOABC  says they “understand the importance of hunter recruitment and retention in B.C.”.

In the viability paper GOABC says “The management of big game must be conducted in a manner that grows trophy-class animals and restricts provisions such as “spike-fork” seasons for immature bull moose.”

The resident hunters of BC are always cognizant of conservation issues and do not support hunting regulations that produce a harvest that goes beyond what science says is acceptable and sustainable. LEH is not the only tool for residents when there is “a need to control the harvest.” The new allocation policy deals with these issues, and provides a variety of management tools, while keeping conservation at the forefront. GOABC knows that putting residents on LEH for quota species impacts resident hunters dramatically, both in hunting opportunities and in hunter recruitment. The impact of LEH on residents is typically far greater than the impact of quotas on guided hunters. We also know from past experiences that managing wildlife to grow trophy-class animals has a detrimental effect on hunter recruitment as the priority for the majority of resident hunters is to put quality food in their freezers.

November 10th, 2009 | Category: Allocation, Hunting Issues | Comments are closed
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