The President of the BC Wildlife Federation has expressed disappointment with a recent change to hunting regulations.
The BC government announced on Friday changes prohibiting the use of all motor vehicles for the purpose of licensed hunting except on designated highways and mainline forestry roads within the Chilcotin Plateau and Hanceville-Riske Creek fires to protect ‘big game’.
In a letter addressed to the Minister of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resouce Operations, Harvey Andrusak says First Nations and nearly all recreational and commercial users remain un-impacted by this restriction.
He says if the regulation is for conservation everyone on the land base should be removed, and the roads should be decommissioned and reseeded.
Andrusak also says that not one collared cow moose was killed in the wildfires.
The restrictions which do not apply to First Nations exercising Aboriginal rights to hunt are expected to remain in place until December 10.
The Ministry said wildfires have enabled motor vehicle access by hunters to remote moose and mule deer habitats that were previously only accessible by foot and that the loss of vegetation has significantly increased lines of sight.