ELECTION 2024 OP/ED: We must halt B.C.'s slow-motion natural catastrophe

By Randy Shore

We must get back to science-based wildlife management to halt B.C.’s slow-motion natural catastrophe and support British Columbians whose culture is tied to sustainably enjoying nature.

Many of our iconic wildlife species are in decline, best exemplified by the progressive extinction of the mountain caribou herds of the southern Kootenays and record low populations of Thompson and Chilcotin river steelhead. This year’s Fraser River sockeye return is the second lowest on record for this cohort.

This deterioration is made worse by the provincial government’s steadfast refusal to make wildlife management decisions that are backed by science.

Some wildlife populations in B.C. are healthy and growing, while others are not. But without robust data collection and science-based management, missteps are being made.

What little inventory work the government does is in greater jeopardy than ever. Provincial fish and wildlife programs are in crisis after control of wildlife programs were transferred out of the Ministry of Forests.

Science and stewardship staff at the Ministry of Wildlife, Land and Resource Management are facing a ban on travel in the field and in some departments, staff have been asked to turn in their government cell phones as a cost-saving measure. Operational budgets have been effectively cut by 30-70 per cent.

When staff can’t travel to oversee programs, those programs are typically cancelled. Bighorn sheep disease management in the Okanagan has already been under-funded and this winter’s wildlife inventories will likely suffer the same fate. B.C.’s endangered caribou recovery program is $2.2 million short of its $10 million budget, for monitoring, research, habitat restoration, and predator control.

Demoralized staff are quitting or taking extended leaves of absence, which has left some regional offices almost entirely unstaffed.

In 2020, the provincial government’s Together for Wildlife strategy promised to implement evidence-based decisions, supported by research and monitoring. But after creating this framework, the government has apparently abandoned it.

Rather than addressing the vital habitat work needed to help ailing wildlife populations recover, the government is focused on removing people from the landscape. But simply restricting hikers, campers, anglers and hunters from accessing the backcountry will not in itself trigger wildlife recovery. If we want a sustainable future, we have to do the hard work, invest in habitat and wildlife recovery, and make science-based decisions.

The government admits there is no scientific basis for many of the new restrictions, nor any science-based plan. The sooner all British Columbians return to the table for good-faith negotiations, buttressed by thorough wildlife counts, and on-the-ground restoration, the faster we can move toward a future of shared abundance.

The provincial election is your opportunity to demand better from our elected officials.

Randy Shore is a PR & Communications Specialist at the B.C. Wildlife Federation.