BC: Hunting, Politics and Game Management

[VFX_man]

A relatively new "outsider's" view . . .


Greeting collective, to say I’m disappointed with the trend regarding the hunting regulations in BC is an understatement.

Being a “recent” transplant from California [5 years ago], I see some of the same misguided political decisions being made by politicians who are out-of-touch with the things they are trying to regulate on multiple levels. Game management should NOT be a politically driven item -- plain and simple.

It dismays me to see decisions being made based on the “feelings” of “City folk” who have never set foot outside of the lower mainland and think that BC ends near Whistler and around Hope --- As to myself, I have travelled almost the entire province up the West side to the Yukon and back down the East side returning to Vancouver. Yes, I live in the Lower Mainland, but bought a place in Kamloops for retirement since that is my recreation and hunting area. The nature of my work dictates I live/work in Vancouver, but my heart is in the outdoors.

As to myself -- my Canadian citizenship application has been submitted received and will be entering the system shortly -- yes, I am in for the long-haul. So am trying to figure out where my political party affiliations will land -- the GB hunting ban is not sitting well with me. Would I personally hunt one? No. I have no issue with a universally managed hunt that includes all parties . . . but improper and non-equal decisions is what I am AGAINST. #oneBC

My childhood State of Missouri got it right back in the 70/80’s. They passed a ⅛ of 1% sales tax that funneled revenue directly into the Missouri Department of Conservation for wildlife management. Effectively cutting them off from the political process and allowing them to manage wildlife without politics. The result? Higher numbers and diversity of game than they have ever seen in recorded history and the exporting of excess game to other states to assist their populations. [SIDE NOTE: Yep, so the young girl shot an Elk in Missouri by accident -- It was a reintroduced species that most have never seen]. The issue now, is the politicians are really upset that they cannot get their hands on those funds and have tried to modify things, but have been unsuccessful.

Had a long discussion last night with coworkers who said man is to blame for the imbalance and we should exclude ourselves from the equation. I reminded them that we (man) are part of the food chain and have been for a very long time. But it is our responsibility, as the APEX predator, too manage the ecosystem to avoid the boom-bust cycle and try to flatten the yoyo curve so all game and predators survive equally. They brought up the Yellowstone study that said the wolves helped the herds and ecosystem -- that's fine I said, it was definitely needed [basically the same as adding a "hunter" to remove the weak] but it's an older study and unfortunately the "wolves got out of the bag" when the easy game was removed -- and did not remain within the park boundaries and spreading out, wreaking havoc on the local ranchers. If it was a contained ecosystem [fenced] you would quickly see that the wolves could deplete their food sources potentially beyond recovery -- Boom-Bust cycle.

There is so much misinformation out there that people only pick and choose what is closest to their way of thinking and quote that -- and there are too many sources with selfish goals. It's all 1,000,000 shades of grey baby!

I wish all BC residents were required to get out and explore the Provence. They might then have an understanding of how vast BC is. Yes a dam will take away some land and habitat - but will provide new and different habitat, A pipeline might cause some issues and hazards, but in the scope of the BC environment -- the sky will not fall and the sun will still rise. Granted, all of this needs to be done responsibly - but not all politicians are about doing the right thing.

Unfortunately the only thing “city folk” can relate to is their pet dog, cat, bunny, etc. - So the concept of harvesting something that reminds them of their pet is unacceptable in their minds. If they were surrounded by a pack of hungry wolves, they might have to rethink their position in the food chain and have a come to Jesus moment, but that will never happen. I was disheartened to hear so many "friends" say to me they were glad I didn't get my LEH Moose and had been putting those thoughts out while I was hunting.

I had a former coworker who was on a photo safari in Africa. She was a cat and animal lover who did not heed the warnings to keep the windows up. Needless to say (and thankfully) it was a quick death and she didn't suffer from what we understand.

Peace in the New Year.

VFX

ps -- any guidance on the Canadian political parties’ stances on wildlife is appreciated. In the states I consider myself a moderate. Right smack dab in the middle and open for logical discussions and debates.

[dougan]

Great write up VFX . Sorry to hear your so called friends would send bad vibes for your moose hunt, perhaps you should take them of the friend list .

[Bugle M In]

"Had a long discussion last night with coworkers who said man is to blame for the imbalance and we should exclude ourselves from the equation"

Just inform them that they contribute daily to the demise of the planet, and the creature cohabitating on it....
and that all they do is "consume"...not just food, but all their materialistic things they buy, wear, use etc.
And that they contribute 0 dollars back to the environment or funding for habitat....
Basically they kill animals daily....and act like they didn't....because they don't see it happening.
Ask them if that makes them feel good....
Tell them hunters do want to contribute back...as well as ensure that habitat remains for future generations.

[elknut]

Great write up VFX_ man...Welcome to BC...Dennis

[cuervosail]

Very well said. I appreciate the logic and non-inflammatory tone.

[cpwrestler]

A relatively new "outsider's" view . . .


Greeting collective, to say I’m disappointed with the trend regarding the hunting regulations in BC is an understatement.

Being a “recent” transplant from California [5 years ago], I see some of the same misguided political decisions being made by politicians who are out-of-touch with the things they are trying to regulate on multiple levels. Game management should NOT be a politically driven item -- plain and simple.

It dismays me to see decisions being made based on the “feelings” of “City folk” who have never set foot outside of the lower mainland and think that BC ends near Whistler and around Hope --- As to myself, I have travelled almost the entire province up the West side to the Yukon and back down the East side returning to Vancouver. Yes, I live in the Lower Mainland, but bought a place in Kamloops for retirement since that is my recreation and hunting area. The nature of my work dictates I live/work in Vancouver, but my heart is in the outdoors.

As to myself -- my Canadian citizenship application has been submitted received and will be entering the system shortly -- yes, I am in for the long-haul. So am trying to figure out where my political party affiliations will land -- the GB hunting ban is not sitting well with me. Would I personally hunt one? No. I have no issue with a universally managed hunt that includes all parties . . . but improper and non-equal decisions is what I am AGAINST. #oneBC

My childhood State of Missouri got it right back in the 70/80’s. They passed a ⅛ of 1% sales tax that funneled revenue directly into the Missouri Department of Conservation for wildlife management. Effectively cutting them off from the political process and allowing them to manage wildlife without politics. The result? Higher numbers and diversity of game than they have ever seen in recorded history and the exporting of excess game to other states to assist their populations. [SIDE NOTE: Yep, so the young girl shot an Elk in Missouri by accident -- It was a reintroduced species that most have never seen]. The issue now, is the politicians are really upset that they cannot get their hands on those funds and have tried to modify things, but have been unsuccessful.

Had a long discussion last night with coworkers who said man is to blame for the imbalance and we should exclude ourselves from the equation. I reminded them that we (man) are part of the food chain and have been for a very long time. But it is our responsibility, as the APEX predator, too manage the ecosystem to avoid the boom-bust cycle and try to flatten the yoyo curve so all game and predators survive equally. They brought up the Yellowstone study that said the wolves helped the herds and ecosystem -- that's fine I said, it was definitely needed [basically the same as adding a "hunter" to remove the weak] but it's an older study and unfortunately the "wolves got out of the bag" when the easy game was removed -- and did not remain within the park boundaries and spreading out, wreaking havoc on the local ranchers. If it was a contained ecosystem [fenced] you would quickly see that the wolves could deplete their food sources potentially beyond recovery -- Boom-Bust cycle.

There is so much misinformation out there that people only pick and choose what is closest to their way of thinking and quote that -- and there are too many sources with selfish goals. It's all 1,000,000 shades of grey baby!

I wish all BC residents were required to get out and explore the Provence. They might then have an understanding of how vast BC is. Yes a dam will take away some land and habitat - but will provide new and different habitat, A pipeline might cause some issues and hazards, but in the scope of the BC environment -- the sky will not fall and the sun will still rise. Granted, all of this needs to be done responsibly - but not all politicians are about doing the right thing.

Unfortunately the only thing “city folk” can relate to is their pet dog, cat, bunny, etc. - So the concept of harvesting something that reminds them of their pet is unacceptable in their minds. If they were surrounded by a pack of hungry wolves, they might have to rethink their position in the food chain and have a come to Jesus moment, but that will never happen. I was disheartened to hear so many "friends" say to me they were glad I didn't get my LEH Moose and had been putting those thoughts out while I was hunting.

I had a former coworker who was on a photo safari in Africa. She was a cat and animal lover who did not heed the warnings to keep the windows up. Needless to say (and thankfully) it was a quick death and she didn't suffer from what we understand.

Peace in the New Year.

VFX

ps -- any guidance on the Canadian political parties’ stances on wildlife is appreciated. In the states I consider myself a moderate. Right smack dab in the middle and open for logical discussions and debates.

I enjoyed reading your post VFX. To answer your question about where political parties in Canada and BC in particular, stand on wildlife protection is a little tricky.

At it's simplest you could say that Canadian politicians try to figure out how best to divy up the wildlife pie, while American politicians try to figure out how to grow the wildlife pie so that more people can get a piece.

Unlike in the states, the hunting community is not really seen as a major constituency so no parties actively court and work with us to the degree that you see in many states.

In BC, the Liberal Party seems happy to keep it as a back-burner issue and not rock the boat. For example, they wouldn't have put the ban in, but now that it's here, it's questionable whether they'll risk losing political points to remove it should the get elected. They don't advocate strongly for hunting interest or proactively work with hunters to advance the cause of wildlife enhancement to increase opportunity. In some cases, they even do the opposite, particularly when it comes to funding. For example, while the Liberals were in power, the number of conservation officers shrunk from ~130 to ~90... That's right... Only 90 COs for the ENTIRE province. Put another way, Idaho, Oregon, and Montana have wildlife funding per capita nearly 10 times higher than what we see in British Columbia. Basically, they throw us a bone now and again, but it feels like we're the ugly cousin that they're willing to put up with.

That said, the ranks of the NDP and Green parties are populated largely with eco-radicals and anti-hunters. Virtually every time they are elected (in BC and elsewhere) hunting opportunities are attacked and undermined. The grizzly bear cancellation is but one example. These groups preach environmentalism and protection but seem to think that involves removing humans from the equation i.e. if we just leave wildlife alone everything will be fine. As I'm sure you know, the problem is nobody is "leaving wildlife alone." Human impacts are dramatic across the province and we need to manage wildlife accordingly... They refuse to accept that.

Long and the short of it is that in BC, we're pretty much out of luck as far as political advocates, but the Liberals are far and away the best of the bunch.

As for federal politics, the Conservatives are strong supporters of gun rights as they stand now while the Liberals generally favour even more restriction and the NDP would like to see some outright bans (e.g. semi autos and handguns) although I don't know if that's official party policy. Federally, the government doesn't really touch on hunting issues other than firearms.

If you're smack dab in the middle in the states, you're probably squarely in the Conservative party in Canada. Federally the Liberals are probably a little left of the democrats in the states, and the NDP are like Bernie Sanders on steroids.

Moral of the story? Hunters need to do a better job of mobilizing politically to advocate for wildlife and our opportunities to pursue them. You can see some of my ideas for doing that in the "Moving forward from the ban" thread. I'd like to see hunting groups advocate for the kind of tax you mentioned or the one enshrined in the Pittman-Robertson act so that our money can do more talking. Right now in BC, the funds from our licences and tags don't even go directly back to the Ministry of Environment, they go into general revenue for use wherever... That's crazy!