In early September, an announcement by an alliance of 10 Coastal First Nations (out of around 200 bands) in British Columbia caused concern for bear hunters. These First Nations issued a notice of a ban on hunting within their traditional territory (an area called the Great Bear Rainforest) along the central and north coast of BC. This announcement caused quite a stir that requires clarification! Their issue is limited, at least at this time, to bear hunting, and more specifically to hunting what they call the "Spirit Bear," or the blue or white color-phased black bears, sometimes called Kermode bears. They maintain that hunting is endangering the Kermode bears, and that hunting interferes with eco-tourism, specifically bear watching. However, there are some obvious problems with their ability to actually stop hunting. First, these bands have no legal jurisdiction to ban hunting since they certainly don't own the huge area from Burke Channel (north of Vancouver Island) and north to the Nass River and as far east as Terrace, BC. It's an area twice the size of Vancouver Island, but does not include any part of that island. The government wildlife officials are the only ones legally allowed to set the seasons and harvest rates for big game in BC. Second, there is no legal hunting allowed now for white or blue bears in BC, and there is no hunting at all on Princess Royal Island, which has the largest concentration of color-phase bears on the coast. However, poaching does present a danger, and the outfitting industry is ever vigilant to stop poaching. By the way, there are only two outfitter members in the Guide Outfitters Association of British Columbia (GOABC) operating in the area covered by the Great Bear Rainforest. It is also interesting that while one group of First Nations is trying to stop hunting, 14 other First Nations bands operate their own outfitting businesses. Third, government biologists estimate a population in the region of 8,000 to 10,000 black bears, and hunting harvest accounts for only around two percent of the population annually. So there is no scientific evidence that hunting is endangering color-phased bears.........(
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