Anti-hunters are at it again – this time engineering what hopefully will be a short-lived ban on the hunting of grizzly bears in British Columbia, Canada. Ignoring all sound science that supports a continuation of grizzly bear hunting in that Province, government officials there have bowed to the bluster of anti-hunters.Safari Club International continues to be First for Hunters, and is actively pursuing a number of different avenues to address this pressing issue, including a call to base all wildlife management decisions on sound science that supports sustained use of those renewable resources.
In a letter to the Minister and Deputy Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, SCI stated: “We at Safari Club International are deeply troubled by the recent announcement of the closure of grizzly bear hunting in British Columbia. “We feel this decision has been based on emotion and not science. Decisions of this magnitude must be made, using sound science-based conservation. There should have been stakeholder consultations before such drastic action was taken.”
The actions in British Columbia follow elections earlier this year when the anti-hunters’ influence became more prevalent in the government.
“Rather than an outright closure that will have many negative unintended consequences for society and the bears themselves, SCI recommends a simple regulation change that can ensure that all grizzly bears harvested be utilized by the hunter/outfitter, since that seems to be one of the sticking points. We feel that this regulation change will appease the majority of British Columbia residents, as well as being equitable for the industry and business-related constituents,” SCI stated in its letter to the British Columbia officials.
