B.C.’s provincial budget continues to erode the health of the environment, fish, wild creatures, and its own economy with chronic underfunding for water, lands, and resource stewardship.
While it is good to see the Ministry of Water, Lands and Resource Stewardship prioritize biodiversity and give a nod to “angling, hunting, trapping, guiding and viewing opportunities” in B.C., the government is passing on an opportunity to create thousands of jobs at a moment in history in which self-reliance and economic stability is crucial.
The watershed industry already supports 47,000 jobs in B.C. and is poised to grow as the need to restore and protect watersheds is top of mind for many British Columbians. (Working-for-Watersheds-Full-Report-web.pdf)
B.C. is home to more than 100,000 licensed hunters and that figure has been growing steadily for years. About 500,000 British Columbians are licensed anglers and the industry has plenty of room to grow. Thousands more British Columbians would be happy to sustainably hunt and fish locally rather than spend their money on foreign vacations.
The outdoors economy is big business.
Across Canada, angling, hunting, trapping, and sport shooting generate $18.9 billion in total spending and support 107,000 jobs. (The Economic Footprint of Hunting, Fishing, Trapping and Sport Shooting in Canada | B.C. Wildlife Federation)
“At a time when economic conditions are so unsettled, B.C. should be focused on creating wealth here at home,” said B.C. Wildlife Federation Executive Director Jesse Zeman. “The government is failing all British Columbians by failing to manage our shared resources and shunning multi-billion-dollar opportunities.”
As fish and wildlife populations have declined, wildfires, droughts and floods have become annual occurrences that cost us billions of dollars. Over the past 50 years, the provincial government has slashed budgets and destroyed our public institutions.
“This neglect has left British Columbians with bigger insurance bills, bigger tax bills, and far fewer hunter and angling opportunities,” said Zeman.
We treat our forests, lands, air, water, fish and wildlife like an expense on a ledger rather than a cherished natural treasure, he said. B.C.’s world-class environment and natural abundance feeds families, and fuels sustainable jobs.
“We need to step up and properly manage our fish, wildlife and habitat to ensure that future generations of British Columbians have a place they can call Supernatural BC,” said Zeman. “If you care about salmon, drink water from your tap, pay taxes, or pay insurance you must recognize that short-term thinking will have long-term consequences for every single British Columbian.”
B.C. Wildlife Federation wetland and habitat restoration projects create jobs and impart job skills to young people in collaboration with dozens of First Nations. Continued underfunding for stewardship of natural resources puts these efforts in peril.
“With recent sharp declines in funding, the workforce was reduced by 75 per cent, leaving just 22 workers and limiting the program to fewer than 50 sites,” said Neil Fletcher, BCWF Director of Conservation Stewardship. “A lack of investment will further reduce the workforce capacity to a handful of staff, and limit impact to as few as five or 10 sites.”
The BCWF is happy to see the government set ambitious goals for prescribed cultural burns that will reduce the risk of intense wildfires in treated areas and increase its focus on post-fire restoration.
“Research has shown that prescribed burns can have positive effects on wildlife, from species at risk such as badgers, to large mammals such as mule deer, elk, moose, and sheep, along with trees, shrubs, and grasses,” said Zeman. “The BCWF and our members have been active in promoting prescribed cultural burns with our First Nations partners.”