THE GRIZZLY HUNT IS OFF
Ban goes beyond trophies
The hunting of grizzly bears for trophies and food is banned effective immediately across B.C., the NDP government announced Monday in a major policy shift.
“Protecting this iconic species is simply the right thing to do,” Minister of Environment George Heyman told a news conference in Vancouver.
Pressured to end the trophy hunt during the election campaign, the government last August announced it would ban all hunting of grizzlies in the Great Bear Rainforest but still allow food-only hunts elsewhere in B.C.
The government suggested it might require food hunters to turn in the heads, paws and hides of grizzlies to ensure they weren’t being hunted as trophies.
But the government now says it has concluded that a total ban on food and trophy hunting is the way to go. About 78 per cent of that 4,180 emails the government received on the issue opposed a continued food hunt.
Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development Doug Donaldson said that as a result of consultations this past fall, “we have listened to what British Columbians have to say on this issue and it is abundantly clear that the grizzly hunt is not in line with their values.”
Heyman promised that the government would improve the management of grizzlies, while encouraging appropriate grizzly bear viewing for ecotourism. Environmentalists still reeling from the government’s decision last week to proceed with the Site C hydroelectric dam in northeast B.C. are understandably ecstatic to see the grizzly hunt end.
“I think it’s tremendous news,” said Joe Foy of the Wilderness Committee. “I’m over the moon. It’s a pretty great Christmas present. It’s been a long time coming. People in B.C. do not want the grizzly bear hunt.”
First Nations are the only exception to the ban — they maintain an Aboriginal right to hunt grizzlies for food, social and ceremonial purposes. Their harvest is expected to be minimal. In the Great Bear Rainforest, Coastal First Nations led the charge to stop hunting of grizzlies.
Harvey Andrusak, president of the B.C. Wildlife Federation, representing hunters and fishermen, said he is disappointed to see the government making decisions based on public emotion rather than good science. He said it “raises the question of why have government biologists been doing any work if their data is to be ignored. Public sentiment and emotions driving government decisions is bad news for fish and wildlife in B.C.”
The Guide Outfitters Association of B.C. said in a news release that grizzly bears are the “most closely managed species” in B.C. and that “strict hunting regulations” in place since 1976 have resulted in an annual kill rate of about two per cent, well below the sustainable rate of six per cent.
“We expect our government to make informed decisions based on the best facts and science,” lamented association president Michael Schneider.
History shows there is no guarantee that a grizzly-hunting ban will be permanent.
A previous NDP government introduced a three-year moratorium on the grizzly hunt in 2001 pending further research, only to have it overturned when the Liberals took power later that year.
“The guide outfitters went crazy, even disinvited me to their annual convention,” recalls Ian Waddell, then NDP environment minister.
“I knew some day the ban would come back. I always talked about the tourist potential and it’s huge, but this government needs to follow up the loss of habitat problem.”
Adam Olsen, Green MLA for Saanich North and the Islands and a member of the Tsartlip First Nation, said his party supports the decision.
During the election campaign, Green party Leader Andrew Weaver supported a food hunt.
Heyman, asked if anyone hiking in grizzly territory should be more nervous now, said the same good advice that applied before, such as making yourself heard to avoid surprising a bear, still applies. Pepper spray is also recommended.
He noted grizzly attacks are rare in B.C. “If you go out into the wild, there are wild things there, but by removing trophy or food hunting of grizzly bears I don’t believe we’ll be creating any more difficulty for human life.”
Heyman encouraged property owners living in bear country to eliminate attractants that might lure in a bear and ultimately result in its destruction as a threat to people or property.
In 2016, hunters in B.C. killed 235 grizzlies — 30 per cent of them females — out of a population estimated by the province at 15,000.
A report in October on grizzly bear management by the office of B.C. auditor general Carol Bellringer found that habitat loss, not hunting, is the grizzly bear’s worst enemy. There are 600,000 kilometres of resource roads and another 10,000 kilometres are added each year, allowing more human access to wilderness areas and the potential for increased illegal killing of grizzly bears.
Heyman said the province plans to implement recommendations in the auditor general’s report.
The province said it will offer transition assistance to guideoutfitters, but made no formal promises of cash compensation for lost revenue. A guided grizzly hunt had fetched up to about US$20,000.
Waddell is opposed to compensation for outfitters, suggesting the government “buy them a camera.”
Donaldson emphasized the government remains committed to upholding B.C.’s hunting tradition despite taking the grizzly bear off the list of species one can hunt.
Raincoast Conservation Foundation, which holds three guiding territories and is seeking to purchase a fourth, also supports a ban on trophy hunting of all large predators in the Great Bear Rainforest, including black bears, cougars, and wolves.
Responding to Monday’s announcement, Raincoast executive director Chris Genovali hailed the ban as an “enormous conservation victory” and the culmination of 20 years of conservation work. “It is incredibly gratifying to see it finally come to fruition.”