On May 8, 2024, amendments to the Limited Entry Hunting (LEH) Regulation and Hunting Regulation were enacted by the province.
The B.C. government has made changes to moose-hunting regulations in the Skeena Region, and moose and caribou in the Skeena and Omineca regions, among other restrictions being named.
Read the government’s announcement here.
View the announced regulations here.
The government has failed to demonstrate a science-based rationale.
“The socially engineered hunting regulations announced by the province today fly in the face of science-based wildlife management both in British Columbia and across North America. The province has committed to British Columbians to make decisions in a transparent, evidence-based manner, but these decisions demonstrate the opposite. The provincial government should be supporting campers, hikers, hunters and anglers who are sustainably enjoying nature, not cancelling them,” says B.C. Wildlife Federation Executive Director Jesse Zeman
B.C.’s Hunting and Trapping regulations continue to set a dangerous precedent by relying on emotion and political considerations, rather than science and reliable data. B.C. has some of the lowest hunter density numbers in North America. Further restrictions based on political popularity are not required, nor are they welcome. We have 40 years of policy and procedure in place to ensure than harvests are sustainable, and that wildlife is supported and conserved.
“While British Columbians are trying to fill their freezers in an unstable economy, the government continues to put restrictions and remove science and evidence-based hunting seasons. We are incredibly disappointed that wildlife is continuing to be a pawn in a political game,” says President David Lewis.
The B.C. Wildlife Federation is committed to reconciliation and co-management of this province’s natural resources with First Nations and show it every day with our work with countless bands around the province.
Together, we need to be focused on protecting endangered species, restoring wildlife wherever possible and using sound data and its own existing policies to guide harvest regulations.
If you are as incensed by this egregious overreach of political power as we are, make sure you contact your MLA and let them know that wildlife and access to the outdoors should be a commodity shared by all British Columbians and it is time to Put Wildlife First.