The Southern Interior Mule Deer Project is an outstanding event.
I say “event” because “SIMDeer”, as it’s known, is more than just a project. I became aware of it through BCWF, and attended a presentation by Dr. Adam Ford and Dr. Mark Hebblewhite on it at UBC Okanagan several years ago.
The project itself consisted of collaring mule deer does and setting camera traps in the woods to find out who was around. Our club, North Shore Fish and Game, provided funds for one of the collars. Over the years lessons were learned and fawns were added to the collaring program.
But one of the coolest characteristics of the study was that the data would be shared with a network of universities and wildlife bios across western North America. This commitment to sharing data came with the benefit that scientists at UBCO would, in turn, be given access to data that the other scientists at other universities were collecting. The synergies are amazing.
BCWF has done multiple webinars on SIMDeer, and there have been multiple podcasts done on it as well, but a partnership with Telus led to a great documentary entitled “Community for the Wild” that ran on Telus TV for an extended period of time before moving to YouTube.
As a result of the Yahey decision the BC government has proposed some very poor solutions to the problem of industrial activity in Treaty 8 lands. They have abandoned the work done by Together for Wildlife, are ignoring previous policy, abandoning science and proposing a solution that Blueberry River First Nation did not ask for.
The Blueberry River First Nation is a Treaty 8 signatory. They have a treaty right to practice their way of life;
A chief of the BRFN took the province to court, arguing that the cumulative impacts of industrial activity in BRFN traditional territory amounted to a breach of Treaty 8 ;
The court found in favour of BRFN and ordered the province to negotiate a settlement in regard to the cumulative effects of industrial activity ;
The province declined to appeal the decision and entered negotiations ;
In response to the cumulative effects of industrial activity the province has proposed the suspension of the sustainable hunting of caribou across 7B (not of endangered herds, but of all herds) and reduction of residential moose harvest by 50% along with a change to LEH for moose ;
This proposal is not science based – the harvest of both species is more than sustainable ;
This proposal does not follow the province’s own guidelines and is in conflict with the goals expressed in the Together for Wildlife process that First nations, government and stakeholders spent the last 2 years pursuing;
It is not clear that all Treaty 8 First Nations even asked for this solution;
This is a terrible proposal that damages caribou restoration, hurts the economy, punishes resident hunters and throws the process of truth and reconciliation into reverse ;
If you care about outdoor recreation, fish, wildlife and habitat you should vigorously oppose this proposal.
At the bottom of this page we’ll show you how to do that.
BCWF recently circulated the following op-ed:
The provincial government has floated a proposal that puts at risk the rights of all British Columbians to enjoy the outdoors in exchange for continued industrial exploitation of the Peace-Liard region, which makes up nearly 22% of the province of British Columba.
Do you value your right to hike, camp, fish and enjoy a pristine environment? Well, hang on.
The Supreme Court of British Columbia ruled late last year that the Blueberry Nation’s treaty rights to hunt, trap and fish in their territory have been breached “by allowing industrial development in Blueberry’s territory at an extensive scale.”
As part of this proposal, the moose harvest will be cut by 50 per cent and caribou hunting closed across the region, while 195 gas, oil and forestry projects will continue, with 20 more up for negotiation.
Maybe you aren’t a hunter. Maybe the Peace-Liard sounds like it’s awfully far away and maybe it is. But here’s why you should care.
When access to the backcountry and the natural assets of this great province become bargaining chips to be dealt away for industrial development, we all lose. And the environment will lose, too.
Is this the model of the future, where the provincial government approves unsustainable resource extraction and squares the equation on the backs of British Columbians who are simply looking to connect with nature?
The BCWF is concerned that this is the tip of the iceberg and that these kinds of deals are coming to parks, campsites, streams and lakes in British Columbia.;
If you’re a hiker, camper, hunter, angler or snowmobiler you should be concerned about the precedent this proposal sets. The government seems happy to trade away your connection to nature in favour of continued industrial encroachment.
There is a great deal to like about the Blueberry deal. The government committed $65 million for land restoration and related projects in an area that is riddled with logging, gas wells, and access roads, all of which are a threat to wildlife.
It’s an important step toward reconciliation. The BC Wildlife Federation fully supports the rights of First Nations to hunt and fish in their traditional territories for food, social and ceremonial purposes and our commitment to conservation and habitat restoration is shared between First Nations and non-First Nations.
But we must all be able to share our outdoors spaces, together.
According to the court ruling that triggered the deal, the cumulative effects of oil and gas, forestry, mining, hydroelectric infrastructure, and agricultural clearing “has resulted in significant adverse impacts on the meaningful exercise of their treaty rights, and that amount to a breach of the Treaty.”
More than 84 per cent of Blueberry River territory is within 500 metres of industrial activity, which marginalizes their treaty rights to hunt, fish, and trap.
This proposal does nothing to mitigate those impacts nor does it provide support for on-the-ground actions that benefit wildlife and habitat in Treaty 8 territory.
Instead of addressing real concerns about environmental degradation that all First Nations and non-First Nations people share, this approach ensures continued industrial expansion.
Worse, by trading away the rights of British Columbians, the government has created a template for similar deals across the province.
Are you prepared to lose access to your favourite hiking paths, fishing streams, BC parks, campsites and snowmobile trails? That dark future may already be here.
The BCWF advocates for conservation on behalf of more than 43,000 member British Columbians.
Meet in person or by Zoom with your MLA (it’s their job to meet with you and it’s not as hard or scary as you might think).
Go to BCWF’s website here, scroll to the bottom and send a form letter to your MLA.
Go to the province’s Angling, hunting and trapping engagement site (AHTE) and leave a comment. You will need to have or will need to get a BCeID number. Click on “Login” to do either (you can get a basic BCeID from the Login page). Once you’re logged in you can vote to oppose the changes and leave a comment.
Go to Howl For Wildlife and follow the directions. Howl For Wildlife is a continent wide advocacy platform that sends your message to all 86 MLAs.
Get on social media and like and share Twitter, Facebook and Instagram posts highlighting this issue.
At a minimum do one of these things, but better yet, do them all and then go even further. This isn’t just about preserving resident hunting in the Peace. It’s about managing fish, wildlife and habitat throughout the province in a sustainable way, informed by science and Indigenous knowledge, and it’s also about advancing reconciliation. Blueberry River isn’t the bad guy here. They didn’t breach the treaty – the government did, and now the same government is trying to make a quick deal rather than solve the problem they created.
If we let the government get away with this they will repeat the tactic throughout the province.
It is CRITICAL that you fill out the AHTE survey. IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THE GOVERNMENT HAS PASSED A PROPOSAL TO HARMONIZE SEASONS IN REGIONS 7A/B AND 6, SO IF THIS PASSES, HALF OF THE PROVINCE IS AFFECTED IMMEDIATELY.
Login to the AHTE website and let your voice be heard! We have until MARCH 23
2. Login if you have a BCeID (this is the same as your hunting login) if you don’t have one you can register here. (Non residents and non hunters are allowed to comment as well )
19 bighorns were killed on Highway 93/95 near Radium Hotsprings during 2021. That’s a significant number.
At the same time the provincial government is considering putting bighorns in Region 4 on Limited Entry Hunting.
This seems reasonable, right? A huntable population is under stress so we should, logically, reduce the amount of hunter caused mortality to preserve the population, right?
Wrong. Bighorns face multiple threats. Regulated hunting that targets mature males who have already passed on their genes and are past prime age is a minor threat. Much more significant threats are habitat degradation, disease, climate change and predation.
These significant threats have something in common: the solutions are costly.
The regulated, informed by science and generally sustainable mortality threat posed by hunting? It has a solution that is cheap and easy to implement. Sadly, it’s not effective because it doesn’t address the significant threats.
This approach is called “Managing to Zero” because instead of managing the resource in a way that addresses the significant threat the managers, largely because they’re under-funded and under-resourced, pull the only lever they actually can, regardless of how effective that lever is.
Second, visit the provincial government engagement page on the proposed LEH season by clicking here . When you get to the page go to the top menu and click on “Login”. You will need your BCeID, but once you go through the process you’ll return to the initial government page with one difference: at the bottom of the page you’ll have the opportunity to support or oppose the proposed change. I recommend opposing it and then sharing your reasons.
The reasons to oppose this move is that it does not solve the problem even though it appears to solve it. It omits predator control, habitat restoration and connectivity and most important, traffic death mitigation.
Last, contact your MLA and advocate for an overpass. The cost is about $4 million, which seems high, but when compared to a $300,000 statue recently erected in Radium celebrating the sheep, or an 11 million traffic roundabout, and considering the deaths of sheep, the potential deaths of motorists, and the insurance costs, it’s money well spent. Liberal MLA for the area, Doug Clovechok, has been working on this project, so if you’re a Lower Mainland voter with an NDP MLA point out to them that their nemesis, the Liberals, are more eco-friendly on this than the NDP is!
February 3rd, February 8th and 16th at 6:00 PM (PST) for the remaining presentations of the Juvenile Sturgeon Conservation Series. During these informative presentations, you will hear from expert guest speakers on the status of the white sturgeon in BC, with a focus on juvenile sturgeons and the future of this ancient species. Don’t miss out!
Dr. Marvin Rosenau has over 35-years of experience working in freshwater fisheries in the province of British Columbia and overseas. Much of his work has focused on stream and lake habitat-protection and restoration, including issues relating to gravel-removal from streams, lake fertilization and flow-augmentation for fluvial (stream) fishes. Dr. Rosenau worked extensively on lower Fraser River white sturgeon during the 1990s as a BC fisheries program biologist and as a Director and member of the Science Committee with the Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society. He has continued on with work on lower Fraser and Nechako river white sturgeon, including teaching a fisheries course at BCIT’s Fish Wildlife and Recreation Program, and as an expert witness in a Federal Supreme Court action on the latter stream. Other fish species that Dr. Rosenau has worked on over the years include kokanee, Salish suckers, coho and Chinook salmon, steelhead and non-salmonid fishes.
February 8th, 2022 Webinar
Presenter Sarah Stephenson, R.P. Bio, Rare & Endangered Fish Biologist, Ministry of Forest, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development. For the last 10 years as a fish biologist for BC MFLNRO Sarah has been the lead for the Kootenay White Sturgeon recovery program for BC and a member of the Upper Columbia River White Sturgeon Recovery technical working group. Juvenile studies are a large focus of both populations; programs she has led include annual population monitoring, telemetry and ageing work. Beginning this January, Sarah started in a position with BC MFLNRO as a Sturgeon Restoration Specialist, working on all White Sturgeon populations in BC and looking forward to working more on the Fraser and Nechako Rivers populations.
February 16, 2022 Webinar
Presenter: Colin Schwindt, Senior Aquatic Biologist
Brian Comey and his crew of volunteers released thousands of chum fry into MacKay Creek earlier this month in a Covid compliant event. The release was blessed by Swxwu7mesh Nation and the whole event was filmed for sharing.
“If we don’t have a place for nature in our heart, how can we expect nature to have a place for us.” ― Abhijit Naskar
So to back up a little bit, I was drawn for a 2020 LEH Roosevelt Elk draw on Vancouver Island. The odds were 115:1, so I knew (and was told by everyone I talked to) that this was going to be one of those “once in a lifetime” type hunts. I knew I had to put my all into this, everything from preparing, scouting, and “putting boots on the ground”. I figured that if I didn’t put my best foot forward, regardless if I got anything or not, it would haunt me for the rest of my life. As famously said by Hunter S. Thompson – “anything worth doing, is worth doing right”.
As such, during the summer I spent time at the range practicing my “long range” shots at 200 yards +, scouring google maps for every possible drainage and mountain side that may hold elk, reading B.C. elk biology reports, and finally making trips out to Vancouver Island (I might add that I had just started a new full-time job and had only two weeks of vacation to use). The first trip, I got totally skunked and didn’t see a single elk (until on the car ride home on the side of the highway). However, on second trip out in September during the rut, I met up with some friends, and was able to put glass on some bulls.
Fast forward to October, opening day is on Saturday. My buddy and I take the ferry over on Thursday to meet up with another one of my friends to do some last minute scouting before the season starts. However, on the drive-in I immediately realized how wet this hunt was going to be. I had heard about Vancouver Island rain in the fall, however, when they say it’s like standing in a shower with the tap turned on full blast, they weren’t kidding! Luckily I had brought my Helly Hansen jacket and pants, as it definitely was going to be used. When we arrived at camp we were welcomed with pounding rain, and immediately grabbed shovels and started digging trenches to try and divert some of the water that was filling our “swimming pool”. As I dug soaking wet, I couldn’t help but smile knowing that there was definitely going to be some of “embrace the suck” involved in this hunt.
The next day (Friday), we spent the day scouting. Surprisingly it didn’t rain this day, however, it was mostly spent driving up FSRs where I had seen elk in the summer, glassing for any possible movement. At the end of the day we spotted a 7×3 bull with a small group of cows, which was reassuring to me. It was good to know that they were still bedding with cows during the “post-rut” and thus hadn’t disappeared into the thick forests as bachelors.
Opening day I awoke with excitement, it was like Christmas morning as a child. All the planning, preparation and scouting had come down to this. Regardless if I got anything, I reminded myself that I was so blessed and fortunate to just have the opportunity to chase these beautiful animals. I had to keep reminding myself this, as for the next 3 days it poured straight (by the end our swimming pool started to look more Olympic sized). During these days we would hunt dawn to dusk, but didn’t see a single elk. However, I kept positive and just enjoyed the company I was with, having laughs and looking forward to drinking home-made wine at the end of the day to warm up.
Tuesday morning the rain finally stopped. In my gut I knew that this was going to be the day. At the crack of dawn we posted up at a spot where we had seen lots of fresh sign, including massive trees and brushes all freshly thrashed up. At about 1000 yards away we started glassing a clear cut and sure enough spotted what appeared to be a rag-horn bull and a cow. After watching the stragglers for a while, we were ready to move to another spot when I spotted something out of the ordinary. I turned to my buddy and said “I think I see at least 15-20 cows on the side of this clear cut”, immediately everyone jumped back onto the glass and confirmed what I was seeing. We kept scanning the herd trying to spot something with antlers, and sure enough I spotted a nice looking 6×6 and then my buddy called out “I see a giant looking 7×7”. Two big bulls in a herd?! I was thinking that the satellite 6×6 was a shooter, let alone this 7×7! However, the impracticability of getting within shooting distance of these bulls quickly sank in. We were currently glassing over valley, with the herd on the direct opposite side. Thus, the only way to get within shooting distance was to sneak along the edges of the surrounding clear-cut and pray that we didn’t get winded. Sure enough, that’s exactly what happened, we tried to close the distance but a quick whiff by a cow sent the herd barreling over the side of bank, never to be seen again. They were in an optimal location for survival, easy to detect predators with a 360 field of view, not to mention easy escape routes.
I was a little bummed that I couldn’t put my scope on one of the bulls, but at the same time was just excited that I wouldn’t being going home not seeing any animals. They’re out there I kept reminding myself, it’s just a matter of time. After a quick lunch, we returned to one of the spots we had visited previously with no luck, however felt that it was really “elky”.
Similar to the previous location, there was a valley with a stream running through. However, there were no clear cuts on either side, just a swamp at the bottom of this valley. Our game plan was that we would slowly move along and hug the mountain side of the FSR, hopefully then getting into a position with the wind blowing towards us where we could peer down into the valley. As we quietly inched our way along this FSR, I made a few quick trips to the side of the road to peer down into the valley, “guy’s I see a bunch of bedded cows down at the bottom of this valley”, I whispered to my friends. I wanted to stay and glass for a surrounding bull, but knew that I should go back and hug the side of the road in order to not get busted. After what seemed like an eternity of creeping we finally reached the end of the FSR, I peered over the edge and saw what I at first though were thick tree branches by a tree. However, these tree branches slowly turned and I could see the slight outline of what appeared to be an elk. “Hey, I think I see a big bull over here”, I whispered to my friends.
Before they could peer over the edge to see, I noticed that the cow elk started to stand-up…the wind had changed and was directly blowing down into the valley. Everything started to move in warp speed for me, by this time all the cow elk had stood up and started to dart in a single-file line back into the forest. The bull elk finally stands up and I notice how big he looks. “Yeah that’s a shooter I said to my buddy”. Unlike the cow elk, he had no rush and followed behind them in a nonchalant and lordly way. As they are piling into the forest, I quickly scramble to chamber a round and dive into prone position. As the bull is just about to exit the edge of the forest line we let out a cow chirp, he turns around. I let out a few deep breaths and squeeze the trigger, the 180 grain 30-06 round stops him in his tracks and within seconds he’s on the ground.
I stop to catch my breath, “did that actually just happen?” I now scream to my buddies. We put a rangefinder on him and the distance is 250 yards away (luckily I had zeroed my rifle in at 200 yards). I cut my tag and stop to take a few pictures from a far… now the real fun begins we all said. With a steep decline into the valley, not to mention it being littered with stumps and logs, winching him out becomes an unrealistic endeavor. The sun is slowly starting to set, so we decide that the safest route is to go down and gut him and pack him out early next morning.
When we arrive early the next morning, we see that it had snowed 4-6 cm the night before. “Great, this 45 degree climb uphill with 100 pound packs of meat just got even more fun”, I’m sure was what both my friends were thinking about me at this point. I was definitely getting my fair dose of “embrace the suck”. By the 4th trip (with night time rolling in and a headlamp on) I was crawling on my hands and knees and praying to get me off this god-forsaken mountain. As I sat on a log halfway up the mountain, taking a short huckleberry snack break, I hear a gunshot in the distance, “could that be another set of hunters?” I wonder. When I reach the top my buddy says that he had just scared off a sow and a cub black bear, who had been getting dangerously close to my truck (now loaded with meat). Luckily, that was one of the last trips, as going back down into that valley with a headlamp and a bunch of hungry bears did not appeal to me. I was ready to get the F*ck off that mountain.
Now, looking back on this adventure, as I write this story with a freezer filled with meat and memories which will survive long past, I would do it again in a heart-beat. My “once in a lifetime hunt”, was not just about getting an elk, but the experience and friends made a-long the way. All I know is the next time I sit around a fire, I can chime in on the ancient tradition of hunting itself, story-telling.
Across North America, black bears are rousing after a long winter’s nap. How do they function after essentially not moving for up to five months?
For a number of years, I regularly trained for and ran distance races: half-marathons and marathons. But the current time demands of a toddler, work travel and writing conspire to make it difficult to keep up a regular running regime. The toughest is when I stop running for a few weeks, and then try to get back into it. That makes running even 3 miles feel like a slog, and my muscles feel it the next morning. I have to build up endurance all over again. My legs lose their strength rather quickly.
Anyone who exercises or trains for an athletic event understands this. And we also know that if someone is confined to a bed for weeks or months, their muscles atrophy and bones weaken. When it comes to the human body, it really is “use it or lose it.”
Not so for black bears.
As Bernd Heinrich describes in his excellent book Winter World: The Ingenuity of Animal Survival, black bears can spend five months in a den, without eating, drinking, urinating or defecating and lying almost entirely immobile — and not lose muscle mass or bone strength.
Heinrich is fascinated by the bear’s adaptations; he calls them the “ultimate couch potatoes.” He also happens to be a record-setting ultra-marathoner, so he understands the physiology of exercise.
Bear hibernation is not easy to categorize. Hibernating bears are immobile, but they can awaken easily (a fact that makes studying bear hibernation quite difficult). Whereas hibernators like ground squirrels lower their body temperature to almost freezing, bear body temperatures only drop about 6 degrees Celsius. The bear’s thick coat and fat, coupled with regular shivering, keep the bear warm. But maintaining body heat takes energy. Despite this, bears don’t take in calories or expel waste all winter.
Biologists have found that black bears metabolize their urea into nontoxic creatine, and nitrogen wastes are recycled back into protein. Waste calcium is cycled to the bones to keep them strong. Unlike a bed-ridden human, who loses bone mass, bears emerge from their very long rest with their bones still strong and functional. They also make their own water, likely by metabolizing fat. As researchers noted in a study in the journal Science, a hibernating bear is essentially a closed system, with no nutrients coming in or out.
That study involved five bears that had wandered too close to civilization in Alaska. After being captured, they were placed in artificial hibernating dens where University of Alaska-Fairbanks researchers “fitted the bears with sensors to record their temperature and heart rate, and the dens with infrared cameras and other sensors that monitored the bears’ movement, oxygen consumption, and even their snoring.”
Despite the relatively low drop in body temperature, their metabolism and oxygen consumption dropped by 75 percent.
The researchers found that, “While sleeping, [the bears] took only one or two breaths per minute. As they inhaled, their hearts did a quick flutter and then stopped until the next breath—resulting in a heart rate of about four beats per minute.”
The researchers also found that bears enter an intermediate state before hibernation. They eat and drink normally, but with their body already experiencing a lower metabolism. The bear’s body is preparing for a long period of rest.
In a National Public Radio story, researcher Brian Barnes called black bears a “metabolic marvel.” And part of that marvel is that there is still a lot we don’t know.
The black bear is the most common and adaptable bear species on earth. While these bears live in the wild country of the Rocky Mountains and Alaska, they also thrive in the woodlands and suburbia of the eastern United States. Their diet is similarly diverse, ranging from salmon to berries to backyard garbage. Even their coat color is highly variable, and can be brown, red, white or blue. (Yes, blue).
Despite the bear’s growing population, we still have much to learn about these animals. What we do know is that, in many parts of the country, the bears are emerging – perhaps a bit groggy, but otherwise ready to run.
Black bear with Glacier bear cubs. Photo by the National Park Service in the Public Domain
