As B.C.鈥檚 landscapes are fragmented by industrial activities and the province faces biodiversity collapse, with more than 2,000 species at risk of extinction, guide outfitters, hunters, fishers and trappers are standing shoulder-to-shoulder with naturalists, 颅ecotourism operators and conservation organizations in a new coalition calling on the province to protect B.C.鈥檚 ecosystems before it鈥檚 too late.
The Fish, Wildlife and Habitat Coalition launched in May with the hope that the diversity of its members will force the province to listen and take action. The unlikely alliance includes 25 organizations, representing around 275,000 British Columbians and over 900 businesses 鈥 and new members continue to join the ranks.
鈥淲ithin the coalition, there鈥檚 a recognition or consensus that we鈥檙e losing these values in British Columbia,鈥 Jesse Zeman, director of fish and wildlife restoration at the B.C. Wildlife 颅Federation, told The Narwhal in an interview. 鈥淲e鈥檙e at a fork in the trail: one [path] is the status quo, which will ensure that we end up with more ecosystems and fish and wildlife populations that move towards endangered, extirpated and extinction, and the other is where we jointly advocate鈥o drive positive change for those values.鈥
Tim Burkhart, of the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation 颅Initiative, said he鈥檚 not surprised so many groups and organizations have signed on.
鈥淚 think what we鈥檝e seen is that stakeholders from across all sorts of different sectors are losing or have completely lost faith with the province,鈥 he said in an interview, noting the province鈥檚 failure to act on its promise to implement the recommendations of the 2020 Old-Growth Strategic Review as a timely 颅example. One of the key recommendations said the province should 颅immediately defer logging old-growth in ecosystems facing 颅irreversible biodiversity loss.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e had plenty of time and there has been no meaningful change to the status quo of destroying old growth, no deferrals, and it鈥檚 just not acceptable anymore.鈥
The ongoing conflict at Caycuse and Fairy Creek on 颅91原创 Island, where more than 100 protesters have been arrested while trying to prevent logging of old-growth forest, is 颅indicative of how provincial policies put ecosystem values at odds with 颅economic interests.
鈥淵ou鈥檇 think that we should be taking care of fish, wildlife and habitat first, and operating industry and resource extraction within those constraints 鈥 but we鈥檙e not,鈥 Zeman said.
The Narwhal requested an interview with Premier John 颅Horgan, but did not receive a response prior to publication.
Scott Ellis, executive director of the Guide Outfitters Association of B.C., said it wasn鈥檛 easy to convince his membership and board of directors to join forces with organizations that are anti-hunting. He told The Narwhal in an interview he was surprised to discover how many issues the groups agreed on.
鈥淚t probably sounds corny but it warms my heart a little bit that we have so much alignment,鈥 he said. 鈥淚f we can come together as unlikely allies, I think government should be like, 鈥楬oly shit, we need to pay attention.鈥 鈥
He said he first started bridging the divide during roundtable discussions with the former minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, Doug Donaldson, senior provincial staff and organizations like Raincoast Conservation Foundation and West Coast Environmental Law.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 see a bunch of pottery-making, marijuana-growing, tie-dye-wearing, dreadlocked freaks and hopefully they didn鈥檛 see a bunch of trophy-hunting, beer-drinking knuckle draggers,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e align on almost every concern about our water, our forest, our harvest rates, about climate change concerns, our fish populations [and] our wildlife populations.鈥
Ellis credited Zeman for keeping the conversation going and setting up a framework to ensure members agree to put aside their differences and focus on those alignments.
鈥淎ll of these groups and interests care about the sustainability of fish, wildlife and habitat,鈥 Zeman said. 鈥淲e can fight over what鈥檚 out there, and what we know is in decline, or we can work together to ensure the sustainability of those things that we care about.鈥
Katherine MacRae, executive director of the Commercial Bear Viewing Association of B.C., told The Narwhal she has worked with the Guide Outfitters Association on other initiatives and is hopeful this coalition will have a positive impact.
鈥淲e never speak about wildlife management or bear viewing or grizzly bear hunting or anything like that 鈥 we leave that at the door,鈥 she said in an interview. 鈥淯ltimately, it鈥檚 habitat management in British Columbia that is failing right now and if we can join forces to make the voice stronger, then we want to be a part of it.鈥
Burkhart described the alliance as 鈥渦nlikely bedfellows鈥 and said he believes the coalition has great potential.
鈥淭here might be challenges and challenging conversations but by focusing on what unites us, I think it鈥檚 a really empowering step to take.鈥
Coalition calls on the province to create a vision for fish, wildlife and habitat
The coalition is asking the province to prioritize fish, wildlife and habitat through legislation and regulation and commit to using independent science to inform its decisions. It is also advocating for increased funding for protection and a new governance model to support restoration and conservation efforts, all in partnership with First Nations.
Zeman said it鈥檚 vital that the province first establish a clear vision for what protection looks like, and then back that vision up with appropriate regulatory tools.
鈥淲e need to have a goal for what we want B.C. to look like 50 years down the road,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e know what it looks like without a goal, because we have no salmon in the Fraser River, endangered steelhead [and] endangered caribou. We cannot continue to repeat those same mistakes.鈥
Burkhart said B.C. has many opportunities to live up to its promises, such as enacting provincial species-at-risk legislation which it committed to doing after the 2017 election, but agreed that landscape-level solutions have to start with the big-picture vision.
鈥淭here are many ways in which [the province] can take action right now,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e want to see that vision articulated and put into action, and we鈥檙e going to be there to hold them to account. We don鈥檛 need campaign commitments 鈥 we need action on the ground.鈥
He added that the province has an opportunity to show the world a better way of balancing industry and conservation.
鈥淲ith our incredible biodiversity and incredible natural values, B.C. should be a global leader in conservation,鈥 he said. 鈥淚nstead, we鈥檙e falling way behind as species wink out and different caribou herds go extinct and more and more habitat is lost across the province with zero vision for what fish, wildlife and habitat could look like in British Columbia.鈥
B.C. forest policy lacks clear objectives for habitat and species
While the coalition is focused on pushing the province to create that big-picture vision, it is also looking at leveraging amendments to existing legislation, such as the Forest and Range Practices Act.
鈥淲hen we talk about the forestry industry, a big industry that employs lots of British Columbians [and] brings a lot of economic value to this province, we鈥檙e not asking for it to stop,鈥 MacRae said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e asking for different value guidelines to be added into the forestry act.鈥
She explains that the value of tourism, for example, is not considered in any forestry-related decisions, adding that adventure tourism alone is a $3.2 billion industry.
鈥淎t what point are we going to look and say that there are other values in this province that need to be considered?鈥
Ellis agreed and said he believes the forest industry can coexist with habitat protection, but warned there will be more conflicts unless the province acts quickly to implement significant change.
鈥淟et鈥檚 do a better job. Let鈥檚 deactivate some roads, let鈥檚 plant some deciduous [trees], let鈥檚 have a kind of mosaic of tree species out there.鈥
He added he鈥檚 been unsuccessfully advocating for change in how the province manages B.C.鈥檚 forests for over a decade.
鈥淕overnment doesn鈥檛 care, doesn鈥檛 listen,鈥 he said. 鈥淥r if they listen, they just blow it off. And it is regardless of government 鈥 green, orange or red, we鈥檝e talked to them all.鈥
The Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development declined requests for an interview and the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy was unable to provide an interview prior to publication.
B.C.鈥檚 cultural identity is intertwined with the natural world
Zeman said the members of the coalition are coordinating how best to work together and to ensure growth is sustainable. The next step is to start actively engaging with the province, and later the federal government as well.
鈥淲e would like to see legislated objectives and outcomes tied to fish, wildlife and habitat,鈥 he said. 鈥淏ecause we know that if we don鈥檛 have those, we won鈥檛 have any fish, wildlife and habitat.鈥
If B.C. continues to lose species and its landscapes are increasingly fractured, Burkhart said there will be far-reaching impacts, not only in the natural world but also to the province鈥檚 cultural identity.
鈥淭he tourism slogans, 鈥楤eautiful British Columbia鈥 and 鈥楽uper, Natural B.C.鈥 aren鈥檛 going to hold up for long if we keep seeing all the habitat disappear, and more and more species on the brink.鈥
