"The bookings seem to be strong from our clients and our members seem to be quite busy," Scott Ellis, general manager of the Guide Outfitters Association of B.C., said in an interview Thursday. "The bear populations are good and we expect a good season."
Ellis said his 217 member outfitters tend to live in more rural areas of B.C. and have not even seen the full-page ads being run in daily newspapers (and their websites) in Vancouver and Victoria seeking an end to bear-trophy hunting, especially grizzlies.
He added that the campaign is having "no impact" on foreign trophy hunters. "Typically, our clientele is fairly affluent and fairly informed of what's going on."
The high-profile environmental coalition includes the BC SPCA, Sierra Club BC, Greenpeace, Humane Society International, David Suzuki Foundation, ForestEthics, Western Canada Wilderness Committee, Valhalla Wilderness Society, and Commercial Bear Viewing Association of B.C.
The coalition also wants the current ban on hunting the white spirit or kermode bear on the coast extended to the range of all black bears that carry the recessive gene that can produce a spirit bear.
Pacific Wild's Ian McAllister, who coined the term Great Bear Rainforest, said bear-viewing guests run the risk of being traumatized by seeing the carcass of a shot bear.
Viewing can also condition bears to humans and make them easy targets for bear hunters, he said. "The conflict is significant and direct and increasing all the time."
Ellis said some outfitters operate bear-viewing operations in addition to bear hunts, which he said is evidence the two can coexist.
McAllister added that if the province doesn't respond to the wishes of the vast majority of British Columbians and stop the hunt, then the campaign might have to go international to exert greater pressure.
The environment ministry's position is that the hunt is conservative and well managed and that the 299 grizzlies shot by hunters in 2009 (one-third by non-residents, two-thirds by residents) represent only about two per cent of the estimated B.C. population of 16,000 (a figure disputed by environmentalists).
The coalition is support by Coastal First Nations, an alliance of the Wuikinuxv, Heiltsuk, Kitasoo/Xaixais, Holmalco, Gitga'at, Haisla, Metlakatla, Old Massett, Skidegate, and Council of the Haida Nation.
Ellis argued that Coastal First Nations does not represent the opinion of all native groups across B.C. on hunting issues.
He noted that guide outfitters employ natives around the province and that some groups such as the Tahltans in northwest B.C. and the Blueberry in the northeast own guiding territories, and others, such as Kamloops and Osoyoos, are interested in getting their own. He added that the spring bear hunt provides important income for outfitters that might otherwise have to wait until fall.
Guiding territories are allotted by the environment ministry and allow the owner the exclusive right to guide non-resident hunters within a given area of Crown land. Territories can be bought and sold, and potentially taken away by the province should the owner run afoul of wildlife laws.
The B.C. campaign coincides with a decision by the Alberta government to suspend grizzly hunting for another year due to population concerns. The suspension was first enacted in 2006.
In the Arctic, Inuit are fighting a proposal by the U.S. to have the polar bear listed under Appendix 1 of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species. The Inuit say the move would effectively designate the polar bear as threatened with extinction and prompt international trade restrictions on the species. The Inuit traditionally eat polar bears and have financially benefited from trophy hunting.
A McAllister Opinion Research poll (no relation to Ian McAllister) in 2008 found that 73 per cent of British Columbians oppose the grizzly trophy hunt across the province.
A majority of hunters support a ban on hunting grizzlies (60 per cent), especially in the South Coast area, where 66 per cent of hunters support a ban. The poll was based on a random phone survey of 629 British Columbians, age 18 and older. The margin of error is 3.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
lpynn@vancouversun.com
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