Wildlife allocation decision by Minister Thomson is a good thing for BC wildlife!
Hunting allocations in the province have always been a contentious issue between unguided Resident Hunters and Guide Outfitters. The issue came to a head in 2004 and
Government, the BC Wildlife Federation (BCWF), the Guide Outfitters Association
of BC (GOABC) and the BC Trappers Association (BCTA) went into negotiations to revise the Harvest Allocation Policy (HAP). Through 2007-2012, the policy was implemented, but without any analysis of outcomes. With the implementation of the HAP there were severe impacts to the Guide Outfitting Sector. Due to these impacts the Minister initiated the Allocation Working Group (AWG) in 2013, to review the HAP and to suggest adjustments to meet the needs of both user groups while maintaining resident priority. The AWG was made up of Ministry staff, BCWF, GOABC and an independent mediator/facilitator. Following 18 months of meetings, there was agreement on some issues and not on others. Both parties made their submissions to the Ministry outlining their concerns. Minister Thomson was left with a difficult decision to make on behalf of all British Columbians. On December 10, 2014 the Minister outlined his final decision in a letter to both user groups.
The decision will mean a shift back to the guides of approximately 186 animals
across the province as compared to 2014. There is no loss of opportunity for
any animals that are on general open seasons (GOS) such as Stone and Bighorn Sheep, Deer, Black Bear, Cougar, Elk, Moose, Goat, Caribou.
In 2013 66,732 people applied to hunt moose under Limited Entry Hunting (LEH), this would mean a reduction in the lottery odds of less than one per cent but still fails to mitigate most impacts caused to industry in 2007.
The services guides offer are available to BC residents as well as non-residents and many do take advantage of hunting with a BC guide. The clients who hunt with Guide Outfitters in BC pay more per capita per day to government than any other tourist that visits our province. The Guided hunters make up about five per cent of the hunters in the province but are paying 35 per cent of the funds to the Habitat Conservation Trust Fund. The big winner with this decision is our wildlife in BC as the Use it or Lose it calculator from the 2007 policy is gone now. Further info at: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/fw/wildlife/harvest_alloc/
Michael Schneider
Prince George
