"It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority." - Benjamin Franklin
"The further a society drifts from truth the more it will hate those who speak it" - George Orwell
hunter numbers will never be the issue. look at how many hunters there are in the USA. Twice or 3 times as many hunters on states that are a third of the size of BC! And way better hunting!
They seem to generate much more money and put that money to better use managing the wildlife.
designated wintering zones is one thing they do really well down there as well as predator management.
edit: way better DEER hunting
Absolutely and they already are lobbying their asses off. Problem is, there aren't too many NDP'ers (or Liberals for that matter) in power who give a f-ck about wildlife management and only want to hand out as little amount of $$ as possible. The BCWF is starting to step up their game with more youtube videos and seminars which is great. I don't doubt that if they had a much bigger budget they could do a hell of a lot more.
Maybe Mr Chipman will chime in. He's much more of an expert and has intimate knowledge
"It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority." - Benjamin Franklin
"The further a society drifts from truth the more it will hate those who speak it" - George Orwell
I have no idea what you are suggesting here. Do you believe the human footprint is causing a decline in wildlife? Or that hunters are harvesting to many? If so..... that it could be in some areas (LML) the human footprint has an impact on wildlife, but there is no data to support that hunting by itself is the cause of wildlife population decline.
Disagree strongly with this initiative. To stop logging would cancel out the economic engine that runs BC. I have no issue with crown licence logging and private land logging. The 'issue' is the misguided social pressure to stop logging. Logging by itself is not the reason for the plight of wildlife in BC.
Instead of a cease to logging, we should separate the Forestry component from our Land, Natural Resource management, and create a liaison between them. This would reduce the power and influence of logging. I can go on and on, but a viable forest sector is absolutely required in BC economically and for habitat development.
Cattle have a positive impact on the land in many situations. Let's not lose sight of the contribution of ranching (economics). Cattle on and off the land at key moments in the calendar year can have a positive impact on the land. Wildlife and cattle tolerate each other when on the same food sources. High fences…. Not so much.
I'm not sure why limiting hunter involvement and hunter recruitment would be a good strategy.
Iwould agree that the time is now for change to occur. If you believe nothing ishappening, I would suggest you are not very well informed.
Take a look at the BC Fish, Wildlife Habitat Coalition. Led by the BCWF. Regional advisory boards, The "Togetherfor Wildlife" initiative . To namea few.
I’m not too sure I agree on the cattle. I have seen multiple areas I hunt absolutely thrashed by cattle. I would ask you for a single example of where the consistent over grazing I’ve seen is GOOD for the environment.
If we’re not supposed to eat animals, how come they’re made out of meat?
BHA, BCWF, CCFR, PETA, Lever Action Addict.
^^ I wasn't sure if you had asked that of me, or someone else.
I see cattle as one component of many to manage the land. In our area (and I respect different areas of the province are different) if/when we have a burn, putting cattle on the land post fire, helps to break down the decadent fuel and speed up the breakdown of wood. Where a fire has penetrated older forbes and shrubs, again, cattle step on the old dead wood and help to break that down. This really helps get some of the new growth started.
To a certain extent cattle on the land base does impact forest ingrowth. As I recall a general rule‐of‐thumb was that wildlife and cattle should each be allocated25 percent of the available forage, with the remaining 50 percent left on‐the‐ground for ecosystem health. If cattle are taking more than their 25%, authorities should review the grazing licence.
While Moose and Mule focus mostly on forbes and shrubs, elk and whitetail are the grass eaters of the ungulates. Elk generally don't eat grass that is full length (that being those grasses with the flowering top) so putting cattle on elk grazing land in the spring, can help create feed for elk, and keep elk on that area of land longer. If this is about getting elk off critical winter range that is private, this can be an asset.
If an area is 'over' grazed by cattle, then there needs to be a discussion about the timing on grazing licences. Usually around here the cattle have to be off by October. Which does leave some forage for elk on 'transitional' land. If Cattle appear to be using more of the feed than they should, it raises the question about forest ingrowth. Has the land changed since the grazing licence was issued. Ungulates and cattle become compressed into smaller areas of land due to forest ingrowth. In this case, perhaps a burn or thinning of the ingrowth will create more food for cattle and elk.
Licensed Hunter numbers are not the issue. We had far far more years ago than present.
Goodluck with removing Cattle, as the Cattleman's Association has more clout with government than any Wildlife group
Over harvest of Forest, Forest management and access is a huge issue and government continues to almost give an open license to the big money outfits and continues to destroy wildlife habitat
Unregulated hunting by a so called entitled hunter and special group, that requires no reporting, answers to no one, and remains unaccountable is certainly an issue. Two tiered systems of hunting for user groups only works in favor of the unlicensed unregulated hunter and does wildlife conservation no good period. It's obviously not working past and present.
Until there is a government that is willing to put Wildlife, Fish, Conservation and Habitat First, and pour money into it, nothing will change. It will only get worse. Ive been hunting this Province for over 5 decades, Governments past and present do not value Fish and Wildlife like Fishers and Hunters, were a small group, with few votes. We don't matter, were not the ones that can assure the Pension checks keep coming.
If it wasn't for groups like the WSSBC, BCWF, numerous volunteers through out the Province, we would be in worse shape than we are at present. Groups like this do care, and are doing the best with what they have. But it's Pickens, pocket change, GOVERNMENT needs commitment in Funding in too many places to list. It's heartbreaking actually watching continuous Governments year after year, do less and less for our Wildlife and Fish .
It doesn't matter to most of this Province's population and will continue down the dark path it follows at this time. It's Votes that count, to make change, and that is not going to happen.
Last edited by Imdone; 10-15-2021 at 03:39 PM.
WSSBC
BCWF
CCFR
BHA
If you can pack it in, You can pack it out !!!
UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL !!!
BCWF
WSSBC
CCFR
" The secret of change is to focus all your energy, not on fighting the old, but building on the new"
Socrates.
Canadian citizens only. Sorry landed immigrants.. Get your citizenship. If you cannot fluently speak English or French you cannot get a hunting license...duh!