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| Hunters pay License fees and taxes to support wildlife enforcement, which prohibits market hunting and commerce in wildlife, prevents illegal taking of wildlife and helps pay for wildlife administration, research, protection and management. |
Hunter-Funded Conservation Trusts
In BC, the Habitat Conservation Trust Fund is directly supported by surcharges on hunting and fishing Licenses. Special surcharges on bear licenses, with contributions from industry have contributed several million dollars towards black bear research and inventory over the past five years.
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Fund
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Source of Funding |
Amount |
| Forest Renewal BC |
Timber stumpage fees |
$3.5 million over 6 years |
| Habitat Conservation Trust Fund |
Surcharges on hunting and fishing licences |
$52 million over 19 years |
| (Source: HCTF 2000) |
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Since its inception in 1981, the BC Habitat Conservation Trust Fund has invested $48 million in wildlife and fisheries conservation programs in BC . An important point to note is that most of the wildlife projects are devoted to threatened and endangered non-game species. It is one of the most important sources of funds for studying the Lesser known but truly endangered species among the bats, birds, reptiles, amphibians and insects.
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Volunteer Conservation Organizations
Non-government hunting organizations such as the Guide Outfitters Association of BC (GOABC) and the British Columbia Wildlife Federation (BCWF) contribute countless volunteer hours and money every year to habitat protection, enhancement, and acquisition programs. The Kootenay and the Okanagan Wildlife Heritage Funds are excellent examples of nongovernmental wildlife conservation organizations. Local clubs contribute time for projects like wildlife counts, emergency feeding, and collecting and distributing road kill carcasses to reduce bear predation on moose calves. Anti-hunters contribute nothing toward these important programs.
Wilderness Watch and Observe, Record, and Report, cooperative programs between governments, industry and the BCWF provide assistance to taw enforcement agencies. Rewards of up to $2,000 are provided to reduce wonton damage to wildlife, wildlife habitat and company properties in the backcountry.
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Economic Value of Hunting
Resident and non-resident hunting is worth over $200 million annually to the BC economy. This hunting industry supports 800 full- time equivalent jobs. These include sport shop, gas station and lodge owners, operators and attendants, meat cutters, tanners, and taxidermists. There are 237 licensed professional guide-outfitters, mainly small family operated businesses. These directly employ over 2000 assistant guides, wranglers, cooks and farriers on a seasonal basis. In many smaller communities the economic contribution of hunting is significant, particularly during the shoulder seasons for tourism in the spring and fall.
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Source
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Expenditures
(millions)
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Value of direct wildlife activities
(millions)
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| Resident Hunters |
$74 |
$76 |
| Non-resident hunters |
$30 |
$20 |
| Subtotal |
$104 |
$96 |
| TOTAL |
$200 Million |
| (Source: Reid 1998 and GOABC 1999) |
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Profile of the Average Black Bear Hunter
The average resident black bear hunter is similar to most big game hunters; a married male, 42.6 years old, with one or two children. He has lived in BC for 30 years and has 25 years of hunting experience. Seventy-five percent of Grizzly Bear hunters grew up in a small town or a rural area. They enjoy a household income of $45,000 annually, about $5000 above the 1995 provincial average. The average Grizzly Bear hunter is more Likely to have at least some post secondary education or a diploma (76.5%) than the average BC male over 15 years (60.1%).
Each year some 8,500 residents and 1,600 non-residents purchase hunting and black bear tag licences and hunt black bears in British Columbia. This includes many different hunters each year. Non-resident hunters must hire a registered guide outfitter to guide them in the territory where the outfitters have a licence to guide clients for big game, including black bears.
First Nations and Black Bears
Black bears have inspired humans for thousands of years. First Nations people treat bears with caution, respect and even reverence. Bear clans still exist in First Nations’ societies. First Nations also hunted black bears, as many still do, and utilized all parts of the black bear including meat, fat, hide, hair and claws. Bear meat was eaten fresh or dried and smoked for the winter. Bear fat was both an important food source and used as a cosmetic that could be mixed with pigments to make paint. Robes, blankets and hats were made from bear skins, while the claws and feet were used for jewelry and ornaments.
Symbolic representations of black bears were and still are featured in First Nations traditional ceremonies, mythologies and art. The images used for bears have distinct claws and feet, round ears, flared nostrils, a wide mouth with large teeth and a protruding tongue.
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