Big changes coming in BC hunting regulations.

[Cariboo]

Here is a copy of an email I just received from the Williams Lake Sportsman's Association. Jacques Drisdelle is the president of the association.

Hello Everyone,



There have been rumours floating around about some restructuring within the Ministry of Environment on the administration of hunting and trapping regions. I have just received the following information I wish to pass on to everyone.



Plans are underway to change the Hunting and Trapping Regions from the eight (8) we have now to three (3) Super Regions. For us here in Region 5 Cariboo-Chilcotin it essentially would mean that we would be absorbed into the Thompson-Okanagan Region. It is not known yet but it is assumed that the Cariboo-Chilcotin will be administered out of Kamloops. I don’t know the details but here are the main changes:

In general the changes are along the lines of what a BCWF committee proposed for the Ministry of Environment. The main changes in administrative boundaries are as follows:

1. Three super regions and seven "Sub-Regions" with all resource ministries aligned.

2. Cariboo-Chilcotin will no longer exist and will be absorbed mainly into the Cariboo-Thompson-Okanagan Sub-Region.

3. The Kootenay Region survives as a Sub-Region with the Kettle-Grandby added (again, for at least the third time in 60 years)

4. Skeena is intact as a Sub-Region except that QCI (now Haida Gwaii) joins Vancouver Island in a super Coast Region.


Although we don’t know how MOE personnel in the Cariboo-Chilcotin feel about this, it might make it easier to get some progressive moose management in place since it is all now one big happy region?

This is what I know thus far and will be meeting with MOE in the coming week to find out more about these changes and what it means to resident hunters.


Jacques Drisdelle

[Fisher-Dude]

I agree with Jacques: if nothing else comes of this, seeing Rodger Stewart out of the Region 5 decision making process would be well worth it! Maybe the GOABC will hire him to work for them (as a former Region 4 bio is doing). Rodger and the GOABC have a similar mindset about resident hunter opportunity in this province, IMO!

[Cariboo]

It's official ....................

Natural Resource Ministries (NRS) Administrative Boundaries Re-alignment


To help improve business delivery, a new set of administrative boundaries for the province’s five natural resource ministries have been endorsed.

Background
Currently, the provincial natural resource agencies operate under a complex system with more than 11 administrative units. The lack of common boundaries creates unnecessary administrative work for clients who work on initiatives that involve more than one agency. The lack of common administrative boundaries has also been identified as a barrier to effective cross-agency coordination. The five natural resource agencies include: Agriculture and Lands; Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources; Environment; Forests and Range; and the Integrated Land Management Bureau.

The new network of three regional and seven sub-regional boundaries is more logically configured around watersheds, First Nations territories, existing government infrastructure and proximity to government services. The more efficient approach will:
• Allow for better co-ordination on multi-agency projects;
• Allow for better co-ordination of consultation requirements with First Nations;
• Enable efficiencies for corporate and administrative support services;
• Simplify information management; and
• Be easier for stakeholders to access government services.

All natural resource agencies are expected to transition to the new boundaries by March 31, 2010. During the transition, stakeholders and clients should not experience service disruptions. In many cases, clients involved in a project that requires the participation of more than one agency should start to find that response times improve due to the more effective cross agency coordination.

However, the Ministry of Forests and Range’s North-Coast Forest District will transition to the new boundaries over a longer period due to legislative constraints. While this area will be managed by the natural resource sector as part of the Skeena sub-region, for forestry purposes the North Coast Forest District will legally remain in the Coast Region. This is due to the need for continued compatibility with current legal requirements, such as those within forestry legislation, decision-making delegations, timber pricing/appraisals, and the Softwood Lumber Agreement.


For more information:

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact your local sub-regional management committee chair:
• Haida Gwaii/West Coast: Paul Knowles, (250) 731-3033
• South Coast: Brian Hawrys, (604) 485-0707
• Cariboo-Thompson-Okanagan (See below)
o Thompson-Okanagan Andy Oetter, (250) 828-4413
o Cariboo Ken Vanderburgh, (250) 398-4225
• Kootenay-Boundary: Tony Wideski, (250) 426-1702
• Omineca: Lynda Currie, (250) 996-5241
• Skeena: Tom Bell, (250) 847-7321
• Peace (Northeast): Dale Morgan, (250) 784-1200

[Jed]

Is there a website with this information on it. I have been looking but can't find this anywhere.

[the rifleman]

Can you just imagine the number of sub-maps they will have to incorporate under each of those larger regions. The regs will be soon have more pages than the Bible.

I still have a copy of the regs from 1971, all printed on one small fold out. Sure made hunting simple back then..More hunters, but less rules and reg's, go figure..
It would be really interesting to compare animal populations, and harvest ratios back then, in comparison to todays numbers. Has all these rules and regs helped or hindered? Is it just a growing bureaucracy that creates this, or real ground work, and better research methods?

oh how I wish for the simple good ol' days..