A group of conservationists is raising concerns that new provincial hunting regulations will favour foreign trophy hunters at the expense of British Columbians.

According to the B.C. Wildlife Federation, changes to the province’s “harvest allocation policy” could result in 5,000 fewer hunting permits for British Columbians.

“We’re definitely concerned that there’ll be a loss of opportunity for B.C. families who hunt to provide for their families,” said Jesse Zeman, co-chair of the federation’s wildlife and allocations committee.

The policy change that sets out fixed shares for so-called Category A game species was confirmed Wednesday in an email from Forest, Lands and Natural Resource Minister Steve Thomson to the Guide Outfitters Association of B.C.

Under the new policy, visiting hunters will be allocated:

• 40 per cent of the annual allowable harvest of grizzly bears;

• up to 20 per cent of the allowable elk harvest;

• up to 25 per cent of the allowable moose harvest;

• 35 per cent of the allowable mountain goat harvest;

• 30 per cent of the allowable big horn sheep harvest.

In an email to The Sun, Thomson said he recognizes that resident hunters should be a higher priority than non-residents and they will continue to receive priority.

However, “Some guides had been significantly impacted by the current allocation policy to the point that their businesses were in jeopardy. This change allows for some relief and additional opportunity to increase the likelihood of success for those businesses,” the minister wrote.

But Zeman described the new policy as unprecedented.

“What is proposed, that occurs nowhere else across North America,” he said.

According to his group, Saskatchewan limits visiting moose hunters to four per cent of the available game and Alberta sets a maximum of 10 per cent, while Washington State limits non-resident wildlife allocations to about five per cent.

The B.C. Wildlife Federation would have preferred to see a 25-per-cent cap for visitors hunting sheep, goats and bears, and a 10-per-cent limit for moose and elk.

Zeman pointed out that hunting has grown in popularity among British Columbians in recent years, while fewer foreign trophy hunters are coming to the province. In the last decade, the number of resident hunters has increased by 20 per cent to 102,000. At the same time, the number of trophy hunters visiting the province has dropped by 30 per cent.

The change in policy could also result in reduced funding for conservation projects, according to Zeman.

“Resident hunters pay over $9 million a year for licence fees and surcharges,” he said. “There’s huge on-the-ground conservation that occurs, and without hunting I’m not sure those kinds of projects would occur.”

But Scott Ellis, executive director of the Guide Outfitters Association of B.C., said the Wildlife Federation’s concerns are “unfounded and blown out of proportion.”

“(This new allocation) will have virtually no impact to the average hunter in British Columbia and will have no impact to licence sales,” he said.

Ellis is a resident hunter, too, and he said that people like him will still be able to hunt — although they may not always have their first choice of region in which to hunt when permits are allocated by lottery.

He added that he doesn’t expect a sudden influx of foreign trophy hunters to B.C.

“The number of clients to our province has dropped. The resident licence sales have climbed, and we expect them to continue to climb, and we’re happy with that,” Ellis said.

The new policy does not impact First Nations hunts, and many popular game species like mule deer, white-tailed deer, black bear and caribou can still be pursued on a general open season.

blindsay@vancouversun.com

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