BCWF-What is happening in regards to hunting Fees going 100% back inti Conservation?

[Bugle M In]

As the titles states:

I recall at one point in time, there was movement at getting the provincial government
to make changes and us hunters seeing all of our money we spend on tags etc, go back
100% into the Conservation Fund (or whatever, just not general revenue).

Just wondering what is happening on that front? (maybe I missed the changes??)
And yes, even with 100% going back in, it won't be enough.
Any update would be appreciated, thanks.

[Jagermeister]

A fishin we will go....a fishin we will go,
Hi ho the merry oh,
a fishin we will go.

[Bugle M In]

Ha..
I wasn't asking the BCWF in the context of it being a failure.
I don't blame them for any of this.
Just wondering where things are in regards to the money going back in 100%.
I thought there was some movement coming in that direction.
And I believe BCWF was doing there best to make sure the government was following.
Just haven't heard any news on that front, and if anyone has heard anything?
(again, no bcwf bashing on my part at all)

[saskbooknut]

So, first you actually have to know where the money is going. Is the Fish and Wildlife budget smaller tha license revenue? Is non-hunting conservation supported by general revenue?
How about habitat protection and enforcement costs?
If you cannot lay out a table of all the costs and revenue sources you do not have an argument to put forward.
You should be advocating for a budget much larger than license revenue.
Advertising "supernatural BC" as a tourist slogan is fraud if there is no real substantial investment in the wildlife and habitat of BC.
History tells me there has been a whole lot of extraction from BC's natural resources with little reinvestment.

[Bugle M In]

So, first you actually have to know where the money is going. Is the Fish and Wildlife budget smaller tha license revenue? Is non-hunting conservation supported by general revenue?
How about habitat protection and enforcement costs?
If you cannot lay out a table of all the costs and revenue sources you do not have an argument to put forward.
You should be advocating for a budget much larger than license revenue.
Advertising "supernatural BC" as a tourist slogan is fraud if there is no real substantial investment in the wildlife and habitat of BC.
History tells me there has been a whole lot of extraction from BC's natural resources with little reinvestment.

Hey, absolutely right, but that's getting deeper into finding "more funding" for conservation fund etc.
I am just asking about what kind of movement has occurred with redirecting 100% of our hunting tags etc into that fund
and not just 10%, while the rest goes to general revenue (which is a crime right there and always was!).
BCWF as well as other was "pushing" for the government to do that, but that was around the time of our elections.
At the time, I heard that things were going to change for the positive, thru BCWF.
However, I haven't heard a thing.
Odd, when you consider the fact that this site is really the biggest BC hunters Site around.
(I get FB etc is faster, real time etc, but for longer, deeper discussions, this site rules)

I am getting concerned as to "whats going on BCWF", inside you Org? (just very quiet these days, imo)
And honestly, that isn't just coming from me!
There are quite a few folks wondering whats going on in there as well.
I think there are a lot of "potential members" hoping BCWF turns around.
But there seems to be a real disconnect going on right now.
More folks are feeling connected to the WSS, and imo, rightfully so!.

[Bugle M In]

okay, guess I will help out here, as I cant remember if I seen this link.
maybe other can sign the petition as well.
http://bcwf.net/index.php/2017-political-election-questions/sign-the-petition

[dapesche]

In regards to revenues, my understanding is that money is already flowing back in:
http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?149070-Positive-news-from-the-ministry

I reached out to my contact to see if there was anything formal regarding the tag/licence revenue and there is nothing right now.
He pointed me towards this page: https://engage.gov.bc.ca/wildlifeandhabitat/

Through the links I found this. Might be of interest to some folks.

IMPROVING WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AND HABITAT CONSERVATION IN BRITISH COLUMBIA
Phase Two Engagement Progress Update – What We Heard and What is Next
https://engage.gov.bc.ca/app/uploads/sites/377/2019/01/Phase-Two-Engagement-Progress-Update-WEB.pdf

[Bugle M In]

Thanks dapesche.
Going to the BCWF main page, the petition I posted link on previous post is a part of the main page.
So, sent off 40 emails to friends, both hunters and non hunters.
So far, many of the non hunters have signed the petition:shock:

[dapesche]

Nice.

I have been talking to a lot of folks about hunting in my town. I haven't spoken to one person who has been against it.

A lot of people understand why we hunt and see the positives in it. Others had never understood hunting but now are totally into it because of partners being hunters.

Joe Rogan was the reason someone I know wants to get into hunting. I have friends whose wives are encouraging to get into hunting.

Guess what I'd say to everyone is to speak to as many people about it as possible. If you're passionate about people will respect that and they understand why you do it (healthy adventures with friends and your kill what you eat).

Hopefully we can hush the squeaky wheels that are dictating our provincial policies.

[Wild one]

Nice.

I have been talking to a lot of folks about hunting in my town. I haven't spoken to one person who has been against it.

A lot of people understand why we hunt and see the positives in it. Others had never understood hunting but now are totally into it because of partners being hunters.

Joe Rogan was the reason someone I know wants to get into hunting. I have friends whose wives are encouraging to get into hunting.

Guess what I'd say to everyone is to speak to as many people about it as possible. If you're passionate about people will respect that and they understand why you do it (healthy adventures with friends and your kill what you eat).

Hopefully we can hush the squeaky wheels that are dictating our provincial policies.


This I agree with and have done this for years.

[338win mag]

Nice.

I have been talking to a lot of folks about hunting in my town. I haven't spoken to one person who has been against it.

A lot of people understand why we hunt and see the positives in it. Others had never understood hunting but now are totally into it because of partners being hunters.

Joe Rogan was the reason someone I know wants to get into hunting. I have friends whose wives are encouraging to get into hunting.

Guess what I'd say to everyone is to speak to as many people about it as possible. If you're passionate about people will respect that and they understand why you do it (healthy adventures with friends and your kill what you eat).

Hopefully we can hush the squeaky wheels that are dictating our provincial policies.
I like what you say here, its true.

[RobU]

As the titles states:

I recall at one point in time, there was movement at getting the provincial government
to make changes and us hunters seeing all of our money we spend on tags etc, go back
100% into the Conservation Fund (or whatever, just not general revenue).

Just wondering what is happening on that front? (maybe I missed the changes??)
And yes, even with 100% going back in, it won't be enough.
Any update would be appreciated, thanks.

Excellent topic. Where is our money? Where does it go? Where is the transparency?
just a few of many hunter concerns. Out of respect for everything the BCWF has done I will keep this as clean as possible. Where is hunter representation? BCWF is losing members and clubs at an alarming rate, perhaps time to reconsider BCWF policies and position.....get back in the fight for what’s right.

[dapesche]

Excellent topic. Where is our money? Where does it go? Where is the transparency?
just a few of many hunter concerns. Out of respect for everything the BCWF has done I will keep this as clean as possible. Where is hunter representation? BCWF is losing members and clubs at an alarming rate, perhaps time to reconsider BCWF policies and position.....get back in the fight for what’s right.


Did you have time to look through this: https://engage.gov.bc.ca/app/uploads/sites/377/2019/01/Phase-Two-Engagement-Progress-Update-WEB.pdf
gives you an idea of what they've done so far and what they are going to do.

[RobU]

Thank you. I missed it. Interesting to see if and how it follows through

[boxhitch]

The new wildlife agency and the $100 million cash infection was a Lib promise, died in the election?

[Bugle M In]

The new wildlife agency and the $100 million cash infection was a Lib promise, died in the election?

"Infection" actually sounds better than "Injection"!
Injection sounds like it could spread and get larger!
Injection sounds like a 1 shot deal...:mrgreen:

So, that's all dead???
OR is there anything in regards to the petition that BCWF has on their website right now?

[boxhitch]

meant to say 'infusion'
freudian slip

[Bugle M In]

"Infusion"!!!????
Man, you sure you don't live in the West End in downtown Vancouver!

[Rob Chipman]

As dapesche highlighted, the idea of applying all license and tag fees to wildlife is being discussed, and it was one of the items on the table at the recent Improving Wildlife Management and Habitat Conservation workshop in Richmond. Attendees were non-FN stakeholders from industry through to ENGOs as well as government.

It's still in "goal" stage, and it's not clear how it would be handled. Freshwater fishery is a proposed model.

One thing to keep in mind: it's all well and good to demand license and tag revenue go back to the wild landscape, and it's great to claim "Hey, we're the ones paying and it's our money", but be careful - we don't want to be limited to that amount, because we need way, way more, and we need more people than hunters paying.

Anyway, it's still on the drawing board. It's a huge job to move it off the drawing board and get it into the rulebook.

[David]

One thing to keep in mind: it's all well and good to demand license and tag revenue go back to the wild landscape, and it's great to claim "Hey, we're the ones paying and it's our money", but be careful - we don't want to be limited to that amount, because we need way, way more, and we need more people than hunters paying.


This.

Without going into a huge amount of detail I have some experience in Municipal government and you have to be really careful about user fees or what are called "specific purpose taxes" (I think I remember the terminology right). California is a good example of where there have been ballot initiatives to tax "X" to fund "Y" and the numbers never balances out - you always have either too much revenue or too little (usually the latter).

I've been on this forum for a bit, and know there are some that don't support or are frustrated with the BCWF, but it is issues like this where organizations like the BCWF can say "fees go to X and AT A MINIMUM this amount of money is spent on X".

In other words, an advocacy organization like the BCWF might say something like "Hunting License Fees should go to conservation, but not just Hunter enjoy the wildlife we are conserving (hikers, birders, tourism companies, etc. do too) so License Fees should be applied to Conservation IN ADDITION to $X from general revenues". If you just have a petition, without the advocacy organization, you can get screwed in the end. (true, you might still get screwed - BCWF is advocacy, it is not government, they can advocate for things but that doesn't mean the government will enact them - but you'll get better results than with NO advocacy).