UPDATE: The Provincial government has extended the deadline to submit feedback on the Grizzly Bear Stewardship Framework to October 6, 2023. Previously, the deadline was extended from August 18, 2023 to September 8, 2023 and has now been extended a second time.
British Columbians have the opportunity to provide feedback on the draft framework and speak up for grizzly bears. Grizzly bears face many threats to their welfare and the new framework aims to monitor and minimize the impacts of these threats. The BC SPCA has reviewed the draft stewardship framework and has tips (provided below) to help you complete the online questionnaire.
Submit your feedback on the Grizzly Bear Stewardship Framework by 4:00 p.m. PT on October 6, 2023.
Original Story: August 8, 2023
Five years after a provincial ban on commercial grizzly bear hunting – thanks to advocacy from First Nations, tourism operators, conservation and animal welfare groups, and many British Columbians – there is a new opportunity to help grizzly bears thrive.
The Provincial government has released a draft Grizzly Bear Stewardship Framework (PDF) that is open for public feedback until 4:00 p.m. PT on August 18, 2023. The BC SPCA’s Wild Animal Welfare experts have reviewed the framework and created key points you can use in your submission – see below.
Grizzly bears in Canada are federally designated as a species of special concern and in 2017, following public pressure and ethical opposition, the province ended the commercial hunting of ~300 grizzly bears annually. The new framework is a great next step to promote co-existence and stewardship of grizzly bears in British Columbia.
Grizzly bears face many threats to their stewardship including climate change, resource use, human intrusion and disturbance, pollution, urban expansion, disease, and natural events such as wildfires. The new Grizzly Bear Stewardship Framework aims to monitor and minimize the impacts of these threats.
You can help grizzly bears by providing feedback on the draft framework and letting the government know that animal welfare and the continued ban on commercial grizzly bear hunting is important to you.
Submit your feedback to the Grizzly Bear Stewardship Framework by 4:00 p.m. PT on August 18, 2023.
Need help getting started? The government questionnaire portal is easy to use and you do not need to answer every question. Unique submissions are important – use these notes to guide your answers but try to put your responses in your own words:
Question 1: Background information
- Publicly available data should be published annually on the number of bear conflicts, bears killed, and human injuries and deaths
Question 2: List of threats to grizzly bear stewardship
- Yes – Illegal poaching and legal commercial hunting of grizzly bears threatens their stewardship if permitted to resume in the future
Question 3: Effectiveness of current approach
- Somewhat effective – providing resources for local governments to manage attractants and ensuring the ban on commercial grizzly bear hunting remains would be notable improvements
Question 4: Rate the goals of the framework
- Respond supportively to each of the five goals and consider whether animal welfare is sufficiently captured in the ecosystem-based approach described
Questions 5-6: Priority approaches
- Rate the approaches that are most important to you and consider whether additional approaches should be included on the list
- From an animal welfare perspective, approaches 2, 6, and 7 may rank the highest with approach 8 not being a priority at all
Questions 7-11:
Respond supportively and consider:
- the importance of including animal welfare in the draft framework
- whether funding to support municipalities directly through resources, signage, and public education would be beneficial to ensure co-existence and improve efficacy of the framework
- expressing strong support for next steps
- including the incorporation of Indigenous knowledge and ensuring the continued ban on commercial grizzly bear hunting as being important for sustainability
Questions 12 – 14: Demographic questions
This section is optional, but you can choose to fill in your information.
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