Act now! Stop the open season on BC wolves + grizzlies

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Wolves and grizzlies in BC need our help

Wolf (John E. Marriott)

Hello PAOV,

Right now, the BC government is engaging in public consultation on proposals to loosen hunting regulations – and we have until January 31, 2016 to say no to these dangerous changes.

The provincial Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations is proposing drastic increases to wolf and grizzly hunting in BC.

They propose extending the open season for wolf hunting in several areas of the Omineca, Thompson-Nicola and Peace regions, to the point of year-round hunting in some cases. They propose completely eliminating the bag limit (the amount each hunter is allowed to kill) for wolves in the Peace region, increasing the bag limit in the Kootenay region, and allowing trapping year-round on private land in Thompson-Nicola.

In addition to the wolf hunt, another proposal suggests tripling the number of grizzly bear hunting licences in the Peace region.This proposal refers to trophy hunting, which British Columbians almost unanimously oppose.

These proposals are completely unacceptable. Anecdotal evidence and verbal reports serve as the basis for the policy changes. Scientific evidence and ecological expertise, including traditional ecological knowledge, are not informing the Ministry’s rationale.

Instead, demand from hunters and faulty predator management programs are the basis for these shoddy proposals. We will demand better.

The Angling, Hunting, and Trapping Engagement service is accepting commentary from the general public on its web pages. The deadline has been extended until January 31st because of technical difficulties that many concerned commenters encountered.

The province has made the process much more complicated than it needs to be, by giving each proposal a separate comment section. But it’s really important that we make our voices heard on this issue as a whole.

Submitting your comments will probably take you more than 10 minutes.

So here's what we need you to do:

Step 1: Register a user account on the Angling, Hunting, and Trapping Engagement website. If you're an individual, choose "Non-affiliated" on the list of organizations. Although registration is an extra step that we believe dissuades people from commenting, the good news is that by doing it this one time you can comment on all current and future policies that ask for public consultation. And it’s quick to do! You will receive a confirmation email from Fish and Wildlife AHTE engagement. Follow the link they send you and set yourself a new password.

Step 2: Once you have logged in, write your comments at the bottom of the page about the grizzly hunt. Be sure to also click the “Oppose” option. We've listed a few of the key points you may want to mention.

Step 3: Repeat Step 2 for the wolves in the Peace, Thompson-Nicola crown land, Kootenay, Omineca and Thompson-Nicola private land regions. We told you they made it complicated! You can copy and paste your message from the grizzly bear page, just be sure to adjust it to talk about wolves. Don't worry about addressing the specificities of each proposal, the key points apply to all of them.

Step 4: Enter your comments into our user-friendly letter-writing tool so you can send this important message to key decision-makers directly.

Step 5: Tell your family and friends to send their comments, too! You can help spread the word by forwarding this email or sharing this page on social media.

Step 6: Give yourself a pat on the back for taking action, despite the difficulty, and standing up for these vulnerable animals!

Thanks again for taking the time to help BC's wolves and grizzly bears.

Sincerely,

Gwen Barlee | National Policy Director
Wilderness Committee

Gwen Barlee

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Photo: Wolf (John E. Marriott)

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