The main thrust of this statement from the BCWF about the grizzly hunt is about government listening to us bleeding hearts and consequently losing touch with science, which to them is the only sensible way to make decisions.
These proposed regulations have undermined science based wildlife management in favour of social and political decisions. What BCWF is out of touch with is that it does not take a rocket scientist to see that the science around hunting is used to justify how the lives of animals and birds can be used to maximize the benefits to man and sensitive people are getting sick of that. Families feeding themselves in situations that they would go hungry if they did not hunt or fish has become rather unimportant. There are all these other reasons, like feeling self sufficient and getting close to nature that are now excuses for hunting. But the biggest reason by far for fishing and hunting is that it has become a huge important industry supporting an economy that HAS TO GROW.
Anyone walking into a Cabela’s or a Bass Pro Shop gets a feeling how big this is and why it is behind the big push to get people buying licenses when the numbers fell off. Now they have the women and children hunting whether they need to or not, but they all do need expensive gadgets to hunt and fish with and they all need to travel. License revenue also supports the scientist and regulators. For the animals, birds and fish it is all about surviving something that they did not even evolve to survive. For the millions of years that it took them to evolve while surviving all that nature could throw at them there were no guns or fishing rods, only a very few bows and arrows and hooks on the end of some sinew during the last few thousands of years.
They could handle non- technological man hunting them. Guns have only been around for a few hundred years. Now the wildlife has to find ways to survive man’s “science based” “management” of them. Man has suddenly showed up with all the self-appointed power, so it is no longer just the predators and weather’s elements after them. Why can we not have some appreciation of this? The problem for BCWF is that it has become less and less difficult for the average person to see through all their maneuvering and propaganda in support their huge industry. All their energy is directed towards man’s welfare, not towards any of the other incredible birds and animals benefit.
Executive Summary of BCWF Statement Paper Oct 17, 2017 to Proposed Govt Hunting Regulations for Grizzly Bears..
The BCWF is extremely disappointed by the Provincial Government’s deviation from science-based wildlife management. Managing one species in isolation of others undermines the fundamentals of the North American Wildlife Conservation Model. These proposed changes delegitimize sustainable use including hunting, trapping and fishing.
What has been portrayed by anti-hunting organizations, and is now supported by government, is not reflective of the realities of resident hunting.
The proposed changes violate the cultural heritage of resident hunters, values which are shared globally with other hunter-gatherer societies. Intentionally throwing out useable parts of wildlife is considered wasteful.
The proposed changes will result in more habituated bears, as well as human-bear confrontations and attacks in both the front and backcountry. The taxpayer will be responsible to manage bears over the long-run which will reduce the social value of grizzly bears, and funding for grizzly bear conservation.
The BCWF expects government to manage wildlife based on science. Using outcome-based polls, paid for by anti-hunting organizations, has marginalized government’s ability to represent the public interest.
The public should be making evidence-based decisions, as should government, when it comes to conservation and wildlife related policies. These proposed regulations have undermined science based wildlife management in favour of social and political decisions.
