Members of the public are invited to speak about wildlife management in B.C. with MLAs and candidates running in the provincial election at a town hall meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 18 in Lake Country.
The meeting, co-hosted by The B.C. Wildlife Federation (BCWF) and the Oceola Fish & Game Club comes ahead of the upcoming October election. It is one of 24 town hall meeting the BCWF is hosting throughout the province.
According to the BCWF, many of the province's fish and wildfire populations have been declined over the years, putting steelhead and caribou are at risk of extinction and moose, mule deer and mountain sheep not far behind.
"Funding for wildlife has been in decline for decades," states a BCWF release. "As a proportion of the provincial budget, funding for renewable resource management is just a fraction of its historical level, declining by 75 per cent between 1993 and today.91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ¯This must change before we have any chance to reverse the damage."
There are three specific topics conservation wants to see changes to provincial wildlife management are:
- Wildlife management must be conducted by an agency independent of government influence;
- Funding dedicated to fish and wildlife should be increased and driven by legislated objectives;
- Public access to public resources must be enshrined in law.
The town hall in Lake Country takes place on Wednesday, Sept. 18 at the Oceola Fish & Game Club at 7 p.m.
