Someone commented to me recently, “Bears haven’t changed one bit. It’s people that have changed. Bears are still doing what bears have done for thousands of years”. It’s so true. Wild animals are essentially ownerless in their natural settings. But… Read More »Natural Liberty; Grizzlies Deserve the Right to Live…..Blog by Justice for BC Grizzlies
To Comment and to view photos go to: http://www.straight.com/news/724881/martyn-brown-grisly-business-trophy-hunting-super-natural-british-columbia
Martyn Brown: The grisly business of trophy hunting in Super, Natural British Columbia
une 24th, 2016 at 3:40 PM
Martyn Brown is was the long-serving chief of staff to former premier Gordon Campbell.
Imagery abounds. Golden fields of swaying wheat. Lush green vineyards of plump, perfect grapes. Acres of apples, all red and delicious. Harvest: so suggestive of humans in harmony with the Earth.
So redolent of life.
So much more super and natural than, I don’t know—slaughter?—the word that more accurately describes British Columbia’s annual grizzly bear trophy hunt.
Actually, even that word isn’t quite accurate, for it connotes the killing of animals for food.
Grizzly bears—like black bears, cougars, wolves, lynxes, bobcats, and wolverines–are legally “harvested” without any expectation that their meat will be eaten by people.
Letter copied to Bears Matter and reproduced with permission:
Subject: Super, Natural British Columbia and trophy hunting
Date: March 25, 2016 at 11:14:55 AM PDT
To: [email protected]
Cc: [email protected]
Dear Minister Bond,
I’ve lived and worked in British Columbia all my life and every day am grateful to have been born here. The recently launched Destination B.C. materials showcase our province’s people, the animals, the communities and pristine wild spaces and I think “yes, this is what my home looks like”.
But there is a glaring disconnect between what the material portrays of B.C. wildlife and the continued legal practice of trophy hunting in this province. It’s a serious schism. Killing wild animals for sport or trophy is a violent, disrespectful practice that certainly wouldn’t be included in tourism materials. This highlights a glaring misalignment of attitudes toward our wild species that needs to be remedied.
Today, on behalf of Pacific Wild, and in the interest of setting our course for the miles still ahead, I offer the following reflections on the 2016 Great Bear Rainforest Agreement.
I have been asked for my opinion of the Great Bear Rainforest Agreement (GBRA) several times over the last 48 hours.
As I’m sure many people reflecting on this agreement in public and private can relate, synthesizing your thoughts for a media sound byte is challenging at the best of times – more so when you are attempting to address the complexity of a multi-stakeholder agreement many years in the making.
Before the announcement was formalized on Monday, the Heiltsuk Tribal Council released this very pragmatic statement, describing their view of the agreement. If there is one sound byte that trumps them all, I respectfully nominate this one: “We are grateful for a step down the right path. It is the first of many miles yet to walk.”
Looking forward
Read More »Pacific Wild on The Great Bear Rainforest Agreement: Unfiltered
Update by Bears Forever Organization on the Outcome of the Clayton Stoner Case. He was found guilty of holding a resident Limited Entry Hunt tag for a grizzly bear when he was not a resident of the province at that time …Mr. Stoner was fined $10,000 and banned from hunting in B.C. for three years. From facebook page of Bears Forever https://www.facebook.com/bearsforeverbc
As everyone celebrates Clayton Stoner being sentenced today, here are some things to bear in mind:
1) Trophy hunting is not illegal under Settler law. Stoner has simply been found guilty of hunting with the wrong kind of license. We need to make this illegal under Settler law so the activity stops completely.
2) Stoner is also guilty of contravening the Indigenous ban on trophy hunting under Indigenous law, and the Settler courts have no jurisdiction over that.
3) No one would have caught Stoner in the first place if First Nations hadn’t been investing their money and energy in monitoring hunt activity. The Province has NO capacity to effectively regulate or monitor the hunt. That burden falls to us.
4) Justice for the Grizzly shot by Stoner, is important. But what we’re fighting for with the Bears Forever campaign is justice for ALL bears. That won’t happen until the province regulates an end to the hunt. And we won’t stop our work until they do.
You can find out more about what we’re doing at bearsforever.ca
Read More »Guilty Plea from Clayton Stoner, $10K Fine & 3 yr Hunting Ban
Stock Photo of Clayton Stoner Photo of Courtesy BearsForever.ca A couple days ago I put out an invite on Facebook for this court appearance ( or postponement it turns out- third one). I was relieved and happy to see a dozen… Read More »Today Bears Matter asked the Public to Attend Court Case for NHL Ducks Clayton Stoner
