Ministry back down on plans to extend grizzly hunt after locals protest

NEWS RELEASE

www.stopthegrizzlyhunt.org

27 Sept 2009


West Kootenays – The BC Ministry of Environment has withdrawn plans to extend the grizzly hunt in the Kootenays after protests from local residents.

The regional manager announced that plans for the extension will be put on hold until other options have been looked at and wider consultation carried out.

The announcement came after local citizens met with Garth Mowat, a senior biologist with the Ministry of Environment, in Nelson on Sept 22nd.

Mowat, who had initiated the idea of a longer hunt after consultations with hunter groups on Aug 22nd, refused a plea by those opposing the hunt for a delay pending wider consultation.

But he was apparently overruled by his regional manager Wayne Stetski. Late on Sept 25th, a spokesperson for the Ministry announced that the extension, which would have extended the hunt by 10 days until mid June and led to more grizzly bears being shot, at least in the short term, was to be put on hold.

The latest move came amid growing anger among local residents over the continuing hunting of grizzly bears in the West Kootenays.

Earlier this year hundreds signed a petition calling for an end to the grizzly hunt in Area D, a small electoral district on Kootenay Lake.

Between 55 and 70 grizzly bears are legally shot by hunters each year in the Kootenays.

Opponents of the hunt dispute the methodology used by the Ministry of Environment in assessing population numbers and are angry that only hunters representatives are consulted when hunting policies are drawn up.

Julius Strauss, a former war correspondent who now runs a small eco-lodge in the West Kootenays submitted an application to the Ministry of Environment in June asking that two West Kootenay creeks that have been heavily hunted in recent years be closed to further grizzly hunting.

Tony Hamilton, the large carnivore specialist with the Ministry of Environment in Victoria, pledged to make a decision on the matter but has yet to do so.