I just submitted feedback in regards to the proposed regulations changes for Skeena North Moose.
I'm curious if anyone else feels the same way as I do.
My feedback was as follows:
To whom it may concern:
I am distressed to read that the any bull season in Region 6 North is currently under scrutiny. I have lived in the north my entire life and it is of great importance to my family and I that I can fill my freezer with moose meat on a yearly basis. I am a 4th generation resident hunter of BC and do not understand why my rights to fill the freezer keep getting eroded because someone else's rights to do the same thing allegedly trump mine.
There are plenty of moose in the northern areas of region 6 and I am appalled that this regulation change is being considered, in part, on the basis of "Addressing First Nations concerns of high licensed hunter use of culturally important areas." I'm sick and tired of the First Nations lobbying wildlife managers to more and more whittle away the seasons for licensed hunters. Anyone who thinks it is going to stop here is delirious.
I was raised by two wildlife biologists in this province and have always had great respect for the hunting and fishing regulations and what they aim to accomplish. I am completely on board with tightening hunting seasons when there is a legitimate conservation concern but this is not at all the case here. This is a case of re-allocation of wildlife resources based on ethnicity.
If resident hunters are going to have any stake in the game at all in 20 years, wildlife managers are going to have to grow a backbone and stop pandering to First Nations lobbying attempts to cut everyone else out of the game but themselves. So far it has been working fantastically for them. If I submitted a regulation proposal to restrict all licensed hunters with the exception of myself and my hunting buddies from hunting moose in our favourite drainage, based on the rationale that we didn’t want to have to deal with any competition for the moose, it would get laughed right out of the office! Why then is the exact same tactic working wonderfully for the First Nations lobbying efforts?
I am completely supportive of First Nations rights to hunt and fish for food, social, and ceremonial purposes. But they have no right to restrict the rights of every licensed hunter in this province just because we are all competing for the same resource. Competition in the hunting world is nothing new. But systematic reduction of the competition based on ethnicity is definitely a new trend and it is catching on with frightening success.
Throughout the hunting and fishing community in BC, there is currently growing frustration and resentment towards both First Nations people as well as the wildlife regulations that protect our treasured resources. For many, many people in this province, filling the freezer with wild meat each year is an activity deeply embedded in our culture and history just as it is within the First Nations’ culture and history. As British Columbians, we all have a right to the wildlife of this province just as the First Nations do. It’s time that the wildlife managers acknowledge our shared rights and stop letting special interest groups convince them otherwise. Everyone has a right to fight for their best interests, but it’s not always right that they should win.
In the words of George Carlin, “Narrow, unenlightened self-interest doesn’t impress me.”
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Re: Is anyone else sick of getting sidelined at our own game?
Originally Posted by Jack Russell
