COMMENT: Consider careful the referendum question on the deer cull
By Barry Brandow
Please consider the following facts when you are voting on the whitetail deer cull referendum in the upcoming Grand Forks City civic election.
The recent deer count in the city is another reminder of the disconnect between the deer population in the city and adjacent Area D and the deer population on their historic range.
Every ardent hunter in the East Boundary is well aware that both the mule and whitetail deer populations on their historic range have declined dramatically since the mid nineties. Today it is common for a hunter to hunt all day and not see a deer. The web page: www.wildlifeheritageforever.com documents the sound bytes from credible hunters that confirm the disastrous mismanagement of the deer!
The BC Liberal Government’s agenda of liberalizing hunting seasons to attract more hunters and thus create more jobs has resulted in the dramatic decline in many wildlife populations province wide. The backbone of the government’s irresponsible agenda is population estimates that have no connection to reality and their steadfast decision to ignore the importance of access management. The Minister’s message is well described on page 2 of the current Hunting and Trapping Regulation Synopsis.
The future of the province’s wildlife resource and hunting has a grim future as long as wildlife managers are forced to ignore that all ungulate populations have to square up with relentless pressure from predators, hard winters, land alienation, motorized vehicle collisions and the endless construction of new logging roads that have denied them the space necessary to survive long hunting seasons and the new problem; quad bikes hunters.
Support for a deer cull in the city will be a political statement used to continue the destruction of the Boundary deer herd which for decades was the largest in our province.
