Where do we go from here?

After two letters to the Minister of Environment, I am left with their explanation that the wolf in BC is a strong, viable species. They consider it the main predator of the Mountain Caribou, so it still needs to be "managed".

This is the same ministry who promoted and implemented the brutal Muskawa and Keichika wolf cull during the 1980's. This Bergerud and Elliott inspired illegal cull (the BC Supreme Court declared it illegal in 1988 because they were hunting from aircraft) was initiated to enhance ungulate herds presumably to appease the American hunting interests.

Due to the extreme negtive public response to this illegal killing, the Ministry of Environment knows it can not initiate another Muskawa & Keichika wolf cull, so they promote the hunting & trapping of wolves by allowing a 45 week hunting season, including during the birthing season.

It is so convenient to blame the wolf for the Mountain Caribou decline in numbers. For centuries, we have targeted canis lupus for the demise of all ungulates. Amazing that the ungulates have all survived while the wolf despite many attempts to annihilate it, has survived as well.

Why doesn't the Ministry of Environment become honest and transparent in placing the blame in the right area for the decline in Mountain Caribou. That clearly would be at the feet of man.

Michael Bloomington, the head of the Alberta provincial caribou management plan from 1978-1983 stated, "the wolf is being made to pay the price for what is really the consequence of human activity in the area." Mr. Bloomington was honest in correctly placing the blame on man for destroying the mountain caribou habitat.

However, the BC Ministry of Environment under the guise of the Mountain Caribou Recovery program, has once again (or continually) targeted the wolf and seeks to significantly reduce its population.

The First Nations people of BC have traditionally viewed the wolf in a much more reverential manner and we as citizens of BC need to adopt this attitude if we want to change government attitudes towards the wolf. This wildlife species belongs to all British Columbians, not just to the very small hunting contingent, so we need to demand that the Minisrty manage canis lupus in a more conservationist manner.

For an excellent brief on this subject, view the "BC Government's Wolf Slaughter program" on the Valhalla Wilderness Society website.

Gary R. Allan, JD