The B.C. Wildlife Federation says hunters and fishers have the power to sway the vote, as they demand key changes to the province's wildlife management as party policy for October's ballot.
The federation is presenting a series of town halls across the province in order to put issues near and dear to member's hearts on the radar for the upcoming provincial election.
On Friday, Aug. 23, their tour arrived at the Nanaimo Fish and Game Protective Association clubhouse and attracted representatives from the B.C. NDP, Conservative Party of B.C., and the B.C. Green Party.
The federation is campaigning for an independent agency to manage B.C. wildlife, and would also like an increase to fish and wildlife management funding, assurances of public access to public resources, engagement opportunities around fish and wildlife management, and higher hunting licensing fees with proceeds dedicated to habitat conservation.
"There's 110,000 licensed hunters, 275,000 saltwater anglers, 300,000 freshwater anglers – they're a huge constituency and they have the ability to control the outcome of a provincial election," said Jesse Zeman, executive director with the B.C. Wildlife Federation.
"What we heard from people tonight is they're extremely concerned about this, they're extremely passionate about it so if these people who care about conservation and the future of public access show up to vote they will get change. All the parties should be looking at doing something to help the situation."
The group's demands follow a declining trend in various B.C. fish and game populations, like steelhead, moose and caribou.
The drive for a dedicated licensing fee came from a 2022 research paper out of the UBC-Okanagan campus, which found a number of moose hunters surveyed were open to higher licensing fees on the condition it went back into conservation to ensure a sustainable population of moose in future years.
"Part of the ethos of people who are into hunting and fishing is you're supposed to leave it better than you found it, and there are two pieces to that," Zeman said. "You want wildlife and habitat and fish to exist in perpetuity because you get a lot of enjoyment and satisfaction out of going out and experiencing nature and I think a lot also want their kids... and grandkids to go out and enjoy that too."
Following a presentation by Zeman, every political candidate in attendance had the opportunity to speak to the crowd.
The B.C. Greens committed to fighting for increased funding for conservation efforts. Nanaimo-Gabriola Green candidate Shirley Lambrecht said the money collected from hunting tags "should be going right back into the environment."
Nanaimo-Gabriola B.C. Conservative candidate Viraat Thammanna read a letter from party leader John Rustad, committing to "defend your rights to outdoor recreation and your water rights as well as B.C.'s mining forestry and agriculture sector."
NDP MLA Sheila Malcolmson said it's clear that conservation is a "front-of-mind voter issue" and is interested in speaking further with the federation.
"We put a billion dollars into habitat preservation, made a commitment to protect 30 per cent of the land, it's never been such a big commitment from any province anywhere in history," she said. "We put $90 million in salmon habitat restoration, to me that sounds like a lot, we're doing tons of things on the ground, and what I learned tonight is there's way more and that the metrics aren't there."
After the meeting, Zeman told the News Bulletin that the candidates indicated that they got a lot out of the meeting and heard information that was new to them.
"I think the other piece that they got is the people who are here are very passionate about conservation, and I think there was a very clear message from the people who attended that they're not happy with what's going on and a very clear message that they want their [hunting] licensing fees dedicated [to conservation] and they're willing to pay more to do that."
