Re: Non-resident allocation too high
I'll admit that I'm a bit confused by the MOU (or if not the MOU itself subsequent discussion). My understanding is that the MOU is what I heard at the AGM and, as J_T posted in another thread, it consists of the following:
"The British Columbia Wildlife Federation, the Guide Outfitters Association of British Columbia, the Wild Sheep Society of BC, the Wildlife Stewardship Council, the BC Trappers Association and the United Bowhunters of British Columbia agree to work together for the sake of building and maintaining healthy wildlife populations for First Nations, BC resident hunters, guide outfitters, trappers and the non-hunting public."
Hopefully someone can confirm that I'm not missing something there. If I'm not missing anything then all that was agreed to was that we'd work together with the GOABC, WSS, BC Trappers, Bowhunters and Wildlife Stewardship Council. There's nothing wrong with agreeing to work with those groups.
We need to now actually start doing the work, and while doing the work we can evaluate the value of each partner. I'm concerned that GOABC may have some goals other than what is in the MOU that may end up being problematic for us (that's a fear, not a fact by any means, and I could be wrong, and there's nothing wrong or devious with GOABC having goals other than the ones expressed in the MOU) and that they may bring bad press to us, but it is what it is. GOABC is a player in all things BC wildlife and we can't pretend they aren't.
So...in answer to Steele Shot's post above, if the MOU begins and ends with what I think I heard and the AGM and what J_T posted, there was only one topic understood and agreed to: we've agreed to work together for the sake of building and maintaining healthy wildlife populations for everybody.
There's nothing really wrong with that. If I've misunderstood something or got something wrong I encourage someone with better knowledge on the subject to straighten it out.
Rob Chipman
"The idea of wilderness needs no defense, it only needs defenders" - Ed Abbey
"Grown men do not need leaders" - also Ed Abbey