Thank you dana for the letter !!

[Sniper]

Hey thanks dana for your letter to the editor in the Kamloops daily regarding the ever increasing wildlife being allocated to guide outfitters. Letters to the editor are a powerful weapon they bring important issues out into the light of day I hope more of the hunters on this site will take up the cause and follow suit. Guide Outfitting is a business and this government has it's first loyalty to busness, after all who do you think pays for it's election campaigns? This is why Forest licenses for example can now be bought sold and subdivided by the forest companies American style ( stay tuned for locked gates and access issues in the future ). I hope this is something you all think about on election day.

Thanks, Ken

[Camp Cook]

Hey thanks dana for your letter to the editor in the Kamloops daily regarding the ever increasing wildlife being allocated to guide outfitters. Letters to the editor are a powerful weapon they bring important issues out into the light of day I hope more of the hunters on this site will take up the cause and follow suit. Guide Outfitting is a business and this government has it's first loyalty to busness, after all who do you think pays for it's election campaigns? This is why Forest licenses for example can now be bought sold and subdivided by the forest companies American style ( stay tuned for locked gates and access issues in the future ). I hope this is something you all think about on election day.

Thanks, Ken

Get yourself a Free Miners license for $25 a year @ your local government agents office and those same logging companies are legally required to give you the key at no cost to yourself just show them your license.

If I remember right section 10 sub-section 2 of the BC Mining Right Away Act covers your access rights.

[Jimsue]

So I take it you are not a business owner...... so maybe you have a job with a business...... so maybe we should drive away any one who has a business or wants to start one, thats a great idea!

I agree 100% with Dana's letter, I don't agree with putting all business in the same basket.

No business No jobs


Jim

[BlacktailStalker]

Camp cook; Is this true about the key/miners license ?? Any locked gate has to have a key issued for it ?? Are there certain particulars on this that mayy/may not apply to certain areas ?

[bigwhiteys]

Camp cook; Is this true about the key/miners license ?? Any locked gate has to have a key issued for it ?? Are there certain particulars on this that mayy/may not apply to certain areas ?

If I recall this has been brought up before and there was a little more to it then just getting your free miners license.

Carl

[6616]

Remember the decline in resident hunting opportunities has been going on for a very long time, predates the current government and really indicates a misuse and over-reliance on the LEH system by MOE, primarily at the regional level.

This campaign is a warning to government, not necessarily a campaign to oust the government, but is largely an attempt to apply political pressure to ensure the Regional Managers will be required to follow the policies of the province, recognize resident priority, and stop giving in to the demands of the commercial sector as has been the case for the last 20 years.

The election presents a chance to bring these inequities to public attention and let politicians know hunters are pissed off and won't take it anymore. If in fact this effort results in a new party forming government we may actually be worse off then before. This needs to be a warning to government to bring the wildlife management regime back into accountability, and election time represents the best possible opportunity.

[J_T]

Get yourself a Free Miners license for $25 a year @ your local government agents office and those same logging companies are legally required to give you the key at no cost to yourself just show them your license.

If I remember right section 10 sub-section 2 of the BC Mining Right Away Act covers your access rights.While this may be true in it's intention, it's the abuse that requires new laws. Case in point: you are still entitled to access, but the road permit holder now has the option of requiring you to complete a road use agreement, liability wavers and share in the maintenance of the road through submission of a bond.:eek:

[J_T]

If I recall this has been brought up before and there was a little more to it then just getting your free miners license.

Carl
A valid prospector, with true intentions of searching for mineral wealth on behalf of the crown, who approaches the road permit holder with honesty and integrity, and justified reasons, will in most cases, in most areas be provided access with little effort. It's not intended for recreational hunters, fishermen, hikers and quaders.

Not much different than the french squatting, marijuana growing, EI grabbing, cabin builders on Texada doing it on mineral claims.....

[dana]

While the miner's debate is interesting, it has nothing to do with my letter. :wink:
My letter is about resident hunters getting the priority they deserve. I also sent letters to the Clearwater Times and Williams Lake Tribune. The Clearwater Times is printing the letter in next weeks edition. I haven't heard back from the Tribune yet, although I never heard back from the Kamloops Daily News and they went ahead and printed it. I also attended the all candidates forum in Clearwater and talked to each candidate and asked them to respond to the paper answering my questions. I was able to also bend the ear of Kevin Kruger as he was at the forum in support of Terry Lake. Kevin has been a member of the Outdoor Caucus and is a hunter. He was unaware of the issues and asked me to email him more information. I urge all HBC members in the Kamloops area to keep hitting their candidates with these issues and keep them on the forfront. Also write more letters to the Kamloops Daily News in response to my letter. Lets keep the presure on so we will be able to see some action come post election. I would urge everyone to do the same in their own ridings. Lets make the voices of hunters heard. Write your local papers and your candidates.

[J_T]

While the miner's debate is interesting, it has nothing to do with my letter. :wink:
Agree. My apologies.

[Rob]

Is their a link to the letter??

[hunter1947]

Thanks very much on taking your time to put this letter together ,I am with you a 100% on what you just posted on this thread ,its people like you Dana that makes the eyes of our government open them up if all hunters sent letters as yours they the government as for the wildlife branch might get our point.

I have always thought that we the BC resident should have first priority over any aliens from out of our country ,THANK YOU DANA for supporting the BC hunters http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon14.gifhttp://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon14.gifhttp://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon14.gifhttp://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif.

[BCrams]

Wouldn't mind seeing a link to the letter or the letter put on here for the rest of us to read.

[Rattler]

X 2 THANK YOU DANA for supporting the BC hunters http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon14.gifhttp://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon14.gifhttp://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon14.gifhttp://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif.

[dana]

Here's the letter.

To all candidates:
It is extremely important to many in this riding that we can provide good, wholesome, organic food for our families through sustenance hunting. It has come to my attention that there is a direction in the Ministry of Environment where they are giving priority to the tourist hunter from Europe or the USA over those of us that actually live here. The negotiated Allocation Policy states that resident hunters are to be given priority over non-resident hunters, yet this is not happening in much of the province. While the resident hunter has to wait years and years to draw a moose tag to put meat in his freezer, the wealthy Yank can purchase a hunt with a guide/outfitter with no wait at all. The Guides and Outfitters Association of BC (GOABC) has been pushing for more tags and more Trophy style hunts so they can make more money on our publically owned wildlife. The MOE has been giving the GOABC what they want at the expense of the resident hunter. The BC Liberal government set it a priority to increase resident hunters within this province through the Hunter Recruitment and Retention Strategy ( http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/fw/ds/docs/070607_HunterRecruitment-RetentionStrategy.pdf (http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/fw/ds/docs/070607_HunterRecruitment-RetentionStrategy.pdf) ), but the MOE has been going counter to that. They are now even proposing Limited Entry on Mule Deer bucks to create more trophies. This is the mainstay species for the resident meat hunter. My wife's great grandparents homesteaded in the Blue River area and were avid hunters and outdoorsmen and women. My wife and I are raising our kids in that same great heritage. My kids are 5th generation hunters within this valley. I strongly feel that kids that hunt, trap and fish do not grow up to mug little old ladies. I do NOT want to see our hunting legacy sold off to the highest bidder while the resident hunters of this province get the shaft and have to wait years and years for a Limited Entry tag. My question to you is, what will you do to assure that the resident hunters within this province get the priority that they deserve? Do you support the Allocation policy that puts conservation first, First Nations second, resident hunters third and non-resident aliens last? Do you support the Hunter Recruitment and Retention Strategy? Much of your constituency is rural and many hunt to put food on their tables. The health benefits of wild organic meat and the cost benefits of being able to hunt locally is of utmost importance to us. Because of the rich diversity of game and the beauty of this valley, many resident hunters from other areas of BC come here to hunt. Many stay in our motels, eat in our restaurants and buy our local goods. Given the extreme downturn of the forestry sector, this provides a much needed stimulas to the local economy.

Stephen Dana
Birch Island

Contact info to the Kamloops Daily News is letters@kamloopsnews.ca

[bridger]

great letter thanks for going to bat for the rest of us.

[Fisher-Dude]

Good letter Dana. Now, everyone reading it, make sure you take the couple of points he is making and WRITE YOUR LETTER TOO! A few of us have written, but we NEED all of you to write in. It doesn't have to be fancy, just let them know how you feel.

When Mr Penner doesn't give us a much needed wolf season here in region 8 because in his words "he gets more letters from the antis than from the hunters on wolf hunting", then it's time we made our numbers known where it counts!

Contacts to get you started:

Premier Gordon Campbell
Room 156
Parliament Buildings
Victoria, BC V8V 1X4

The Honourable Barry Penner
Minister of Environment
PO Box 9048, Stn Prov Govt
Victoria, BC V8W 9E2

Mr Tom Ethier
Director, Fish and Wildlife Branch
PO Box 9391, Stn Prov Govt
Victoria, BC V8W 9M8

Mr Doug Konkin
Deputy Minister
PO Box 9339, Stn Prov Govt
Victoria, BC V8W 9M1

Mr Ralph Archibald
ADM Environmental Stewardship Division
PO Box 9339, Stn Prov Govt
Victoria, BC V8W 9M1

Search for your MLA's address here (http://dir.gov.bc.ca/).

[6616]

And to add to what Fisher-Dude is saying, don't forget the political candidates. The election is a critical component as it's what gives us leverage at the current time. It doesn't matter if you already know who you are voting for, it does matter that the candidates don't know and believe your vote could hinge on their support for resident hunting and their support for correcting the inequities that exist between resident and non-resident opportunities for quota species, resident priority, and allocation policy implementation.