In less than thirty years, over 1200 Black bears have been killed on Haida Gwaii.
Since 1977, most of these deaths can be directly connected to two professional guiding licences. The licenses are held by the owners of the Tlell River Lodge, the Prophet Muskwa – Pacific Bear Outfitters company.
Despite research indicating growth opportunities in eco-tourism such as bear viewing in their natural habitat, Prophet Muskwa owners Kevin and Victoria Olmstead, continue to run their business based on bear hunting or as it is commonly referred to ‘trophy hunting’.
According to Prophet Muskwa’s website, bear hunters travelling to Haida Gwaii “in the past, have had 100% opportunity with about 90% success at taking home a trophy pacific black bear.”
These bears are an endemic subspecies (Ursus americanus carlottae), found nowhere else in the world. They are also the largest Black bear in North America and there is no good information on how many bears there are on Haida Gwaii.
In 1995, the Council of the Haida Nation (CHN) passed a resolution at their Annual House of Assembly calling for the end of recreational hunting of Black bears on the Islands. More recently, at the Community Land Planning Forum sponsored by the CHN and the Province of BC, participants agreed that the hunt should be stopped. Even in the face of this community desire the Provincial government continues to support the killing of this magnificent animal.
Today the bear hunting issue is in negotiation between the Provincial government and the CHN. These negotiations were an outcome of Islands Spirit Rising and from what we hear around town, the Province still needs more encouragement to end the hunt. We welcome your support and action. Please send a message today!
THE WAY IT WORKS
There are no limits to number of bears they can kill on the Islands because there is no quota attached to the licences. It is more dependent on how many hunters they can move through their facilities. The more hunters they can process the more bears they can kill.
No one knows how many bears there are on the Islands. There are provincial estimates made using a statistical formula that measures hunting effort, kills etc but there are no real numbers that can say, yes, this is how many bears there are. The Friends are concerned that this approach by the Province combined with the hunters killing mostly male bears and the continuing loss of habitat by logging is a recipe for extinction
Email your thoughts now!
KEVIN and VICTORIA OLMSTEAD, the owners of the licences.
GEOFF PLANT, theProvincial negotiator who is negotiating with the Council of the Haida Nation.
GORDON CAMPBELL, the Premier of