ARTIST'S INSPIRATION COMES FROM MANY YEARS IN THE WILDERNESS
B1
$1.30
JANUARY 29, 2015
ST
Includes G
Two sections, 36 pages
100milefreepress.net
REACH A READER FOR LITERACY
CHILDREN PARTICIPATE IN INITIATION FUN DAY A17
Carole Rooney photo
SOUTH CARIBOO WELCOMES NEW CONSTABLE A3
INSIDE
opinion A8 letters A9 entertainment A21 sports A17 community B1 classifieds B4
The voice of the South Cariboo since 1960 How to reach us: Ph: 250-395-2919 Fax: 250-395-3939 www.100milefreepress.net mail@100milefreepress.net
Gina Gigliotti, left, held Family Literacy Day activities on Jan. 27 for Riley Herperger, Leighton Grieve and Lochlan Grieve during the After-School Program at the 100 Mile House Branch Library. Reach A Reader Day is today (Jan. 29), so volunteers will be around town selling the 100 Mile House Free Press by donation for Cariboo-Chilcotin Partners for Literacy. See pages A22-A23 literacy stories.
Hunters unhappy about changes B.C. Liberal government increases harvesting permits for non-residents
Ken Alexander Free Press
Larry Badke is one of hundreds of resident hunters in the Cariboo and thousands throughout the province who are angry about the provincial government’s newest wildlife allocation policy (WAP) that increases the number of animals non-resident hunters can harvest through permits provided to registered guide-outfitters. On Dec. 14, 2014, the Ministry of Lands, Forest, Land and Natural Resource Operations quietly announced its renewed WAP that will give between 20 and 40 per cent of harvesting rights to non-resident hunters – an increase of up to 27 per cent, depending on the species. Badke says he first learned of the WAP changes through a couple messages on Facebook, and then he read a notice outlining the details
on the British Columbia Wildlife Federation website. He was unhappy to say the least, and he drafted a letter and sent it to every MLA in the province: “Most jurisdictions across North America give foreign hunters five10 per cent of the harvest surplus. The Guide Outfitters Association of British Columbia (GOABC) wants to increase that to 25-40 per cent in B.C., leaving thousands of resident hunters at home with empty freezers. I find that unacceptable. “GOABC members are 210; B.C. resident hunters are 102,000. “Resident hunters far out number the guide-outfitters, and their foreign clients and we are not going to sit on our hands and allow a couple hundred guide-outfitters to continue dictating our future hunting opportunities. “We need the provincial government to start looking after resident
hunters’ needs rather than catering to the wishes of a few guides and outfitters who are determined to try and reduce our hunting opportunities so they can sell off our wildlife to foreigners. “We need our MLAs to speak up for the resident hunters in this province and oppose any increase in the allotment of game animals for guideoutfitters. If anyone should be seeing a reduction, it is the members of the GOABC.” Badke says he received around 25 responses from the MLAs. He says the NDP MLAs were, for the most part, sympathetic to the resident hunters’ needs. Noting he voted for the B.C. Liberals in the last provincial election, Badke says all of the B.C. Liberals, including Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett, defended the government’s decision to increase the allocation to the guide-outfitters.
“I’m not very happy about that, of course. I am disappointed in our MLA, and I have a good relationship with her, but I’m not happy about her sitting on the fence about this.” If the government doesn’t back down on this policy and go back to square 1 and leave it where it was, the government may find resident hunters will vote accordingly in the next provincial election, Badke says. Noting land claims with First Nations will mean large tracts of land will be off limits for resident hunters, and along with the allocation reductions, Badke says the government is squeezing resident hunters into a corner. With a number of rallies planned around the province (visit bcwf. bc.ca for dates and times), Badke says he will definitely go in support if one comes to 100 Mile House. See more details in the Feb. 5 edition of the Free Press.