On March 4, Citizen reporter Frank Peebles wrote a very informative article re the Spruce City Wildlife Association's call for provincial Wildlife biologists and other stakeholders to gather for a symposium on April 20 in Prince George to discuss solutions to the 50 to 70 per cent drop in the number of moose in central and northern B.C.
This is an excellent idea and needs the active support of hunters and others who are
interested in reversing the alarming decline in our moose population.
On Feb. 15, I sent a letter to Steve Thompson, Minister of Forests, Land and Natural
Resources, which is the ministry in charge of fish and wildlife management in B.C. The
subject of the letter was the need to revise the hunting regulations pertaining to moose in
regions 7a and 7b. It read:
"I am writing to express my concern about the need to immediately revise the B.C.
hunting regulations pertaining to cow and calf moose hunting in the Omenica/Peace
Region 7a and 7b which surrounds Prince George.
Please find attached a copy of my letter to the editor which appeared in the
Nov. 8, 2012 edition of The Prince George Citizen outlining the rationale behind my concerns. As paragraph one states, wildlife officials promised that a thorough review would be undertaken to determine the cause or causes of the significant decline in B.C. moose populations. To date, there have been no announcements regarding this issue that I and other hunters that I communicate with are aware of.
Although the hunting regulations for 2013 may already be formulated, they can be
revised or amended as required.
I urge you to take action on this issue, and suggest that a five year moratorium on
hunting cow and calf moose in the Omenica/Peace Region be put In place effective May
1.
Lee Bleecker
Prince George
