I've said this before.... we need to get quick little memes and gifs that can be posted to social media.
That is THE battle ground for public opinion.
Is any one on here working in graphic design or marketing?
I've said this before.... we need to get quick little memes and gifs that can be posted to social media.
That is THE battle ground for public opinion.
Is any one on here working in graphic design or marketing?
My advice would be to come at it through aboriginal education. There is a large part of the BC curriculum that involves aboriginal cultures. Have an elder come in and talk about hinting, trapping, sustinance etc. Tan some hides, talk about traditional practoces and parallel it to current techniques and issues.
Eat. Sleep. Fish. Repeat as necessary.
Billboards......
Ex
Wolf management=Caribou
No Wolf Management = No caribou
Insert cute little baby bou picture in background
$1000 dollars for a month
Last edited by Seeker; 01-18-2018 at 10:40 PM.
There was a time I thought all parties that cared for wildlife and habitat conservation could find common ground. I was wrong. Adapt....
Ex 2
Raincoast thinks 13 caribou aren't worth saving
Real Conservationists do.
Support BC hunters and wolf management
Insert baby bou pic.....
There was a time I thought all parties that cared for wildlife and habitat conservation could find common ground. I was wrong. Adapt....
Took my daughter this past fall hunting.
We both took pictures, and then at home, she decided, by herself and her own ambition, to do a presentation on her ipad, which she then asked her teacher to present to her class, which the teacher allowed.
The kids loved it, and have a genuine infatuation to hunting if given the chance.
It also helped that her teacher is FN, and finds the whole topic acceptable.
(Ironically, the teacher is FN, BUT, she is also vegetarian!, but hey, give here credit, she accepts being a vegetarian as a lifestyle choice of her own, and fully supports others to hunt)
Anyways, having hunting in the FN curriculum, is a great idea, and large FN curriculm now exists in our elementary schools.
Best to have children introduced to the enjoyment and benefits that hunting/trapping can bring.
Getting to the adults requires much more work.
Atleast my wife, who is a federal employee, said that there was a news article in the elevator monitor, "saying hunters wanted more money for habitat, and that 100% of out tag money should be placed into a wildlife /habitat fund.
So yes, the public can be informed, and should be.
How, is the hard part.
Definitely local papers should have articles from the local R&G Clubs, and any project that they are doing.
Stuff like that, but, FB and IG and Twitter seem to reach the masses the fastest these days.
its a good idea - essential in fact.
best thing to do is develop some sort of comprehensive curriculum. It needs to have purpose and relevancy. Sell it to schools through the curriculum and its attendant benefits.
Ideally the material is targeted at grade specific steps, and logically attached to material already within the system as an adjunct (as opposed to a seperate subject or presented in a one time assembly type deal). Lots of opportunity for successful field trips. If kids come home raving about the lessons, parents will be on side almost no matter what is in them.
Working within FN education is a given. Also very important not to be seen as overly controversial, confrontational or it will be rejected immediately by every human component including students.
Train volunteers on the developed curriculum and put some sort of standards in place to maintain consistency of delivery and some method of assuring adherence. One loose cannon can sink the ship.
After a little preparation by BCWF or the like, reaching out to existing teachers to see what their needs and objections are, then go back and tweak a bit. With some sort of developed system, reaching out to scouts Canada and other large youth groups is also intuitive.
just some thoughts for the brainstorm.
Great Idea, keep up the great work PG!
Or, just get involved with organizations that are already doing something about introducing kids to the outdoors.
Local BCWF clubs partnered with Freshwater Fisheries a couple of weeks ago and held a "How to ice fish" event.
400 people showed up and we ran out of hot dogs.
That's how it's done. Get the kids out there with a fishing rod in their hands and away from the evil eye of a BCTF/socialist/anti-everything teacher, and let the kids experience what it's all about for themselves.
FD, your right that we can take people out like you say, and that's a great thing for sure.
BUT, it's not like that/or that easy for that to happen down in the LM, and especially in the City of Vancouver.
Trust me, I live here, and have gotten to know many families in the area.
Those type of events you speak of, should be promoted for sure, but it won't gain much traction down here.
They do have a curriculum down here on FN/Indigenous people.
And lets face it, and lets put all the other FN stuff aside, but the actual "learning of historic FN Culture" is very much in line with what us resident hunters feel and think about hunting and lifestyle and nature and it's uses etc.
Teaching/Learning about Hunting under that curriculum would be an excellent way to Expose people to the benefits and logic of hunting and it's sustainability.
One thing about children, there not all jaded and messed up about what side of the fence to be on.
They are "open minded", and I honestly believe that any exposure to hunting, and it's history and relevance,
is needed here, as many parents would Never take their children to those events you showed.
It's about the parents down here, and given the choice, most of them would never allow that exposure o happen.
But, in a school curriculum, the children get to decide "how they feel about it".
But having my child exposed to hunting ASAP, was the best thing I did, and I had no problems having the WildTV channel on for her to watch, and then explain etc.
The BCWF may want to consider making something like that a "day trip" for schools and their classrooms.
The Kids around here go to the Hatchery, but that's as far as it goes.
Fishing is a great way for kids to "step into" harvesting ones own food for sure, then introducing hunting.
Just understand, and do pass this onto the BCWF officials, that hunting does need to be introduced to the LM better, and that it is going to be "a hard sell", but it's also the area that gives hunting the hardest time at the Polls.
It wasn't just FN who hunted, so did the settlers here, but that get's about a 2 second discussion in the classroom these days.
Proguide
Good Post. Trying to conceptualize your concerns got me thinking of anumber of issues. Talking with kids makes sense, but I think the biggeraudience (Adults) is the most pressing challenge we face. After all, it is theythat influence their children, and they that vote.
If we, as hunters and conservationists are going to attempta rebuttal to the anti’s rhetoric, a unified front has to be offered. There area number of articulate, logical, experienced people on this site, yourself included,who, would be are best representatives.
In my mind, to produce a convincing case to present to thegeneral public, we need to discuss both common and related concerns, as well asoutcomes.
As I have posted in past and believe in strongly, WildlifeManagement does not live in isolation to itself. If we truly want prolific gamepopulations, we need a healthy environment (habitat). Therefore any discussionincluding wildlife management, must also include political agendas, resourcedevelopment & extraction and population growth / expansion. In shortwildlife needs a healthy ecosystem (habitat). So if a healthy ecosystem is thestarting point, then concessions will need to be made. This is where theconversation gets difficult.
We can’t have resource based jobs and healthy wildlifenumbers without strong government regulation and monitoring of theseactivities. I am not trying to be controversial here, just realistic.
This is a complex, relevant, and timely topic you haveoffered, with lots of intricacies to be considered. Let’s not make the samemistake as the anti’s, and zero in on one small piece of the situation. We as aprovince and as a society, all need to take some ownership for the state of ourwildlife populations. Knowledge is power. Educate the population with facts andnot political agenda.