By Caitlyn Vernon

It almost reads like an April Fools’ Day joke. You can hunt grizzly bears, for sport, in the new protected areas of the Great Bear Rainforest. But sadly it’s not a joke—the spring hunt started on April 1 and even the protected areas are open to hunting.

That day I was on a conference call with members of the Coastal Guardian Watchmen Network, First Nations from the central and north coast who are the eyes and ears of their territories. There were jokes and laughter, but the tone turned serious when they spoke about the need to end grizzly bear hunting. I could hear the frustration, anger, and concern in their voices.

Imagine taking your family, grandparents and children included, to a camp in the woods. And then imagine everyone being scared to leave the camp because you can hear shots ringing out nearby. Imagine that you are researching the population of grizzly bears, and you fear that you might be shot by accident as you hike up the creeks where salmon spawn and bears linger. Imagine that you just spent years at negotiating tables to set aside large areas for the protection of ecosystems, and that you have plans to set up a bear viewing business, and now you see people going into these protected areas to shoot bears. Imagine that your people had most of their land and rights taken away when the coast was settled by Europeans and it is only recently that you are once again being recognized as the governments you rightfully are—but even now when you oppose trophy hunting in your territories the provincial government isn’t listening.

These are the stories I hear from First Nations on the coast. And I share their anger and concern. How could we not? Grizzly bears face habitat loss, declining food sources, and increased mortality wherever they come in contact with humans. We are already jeopardizing their survival in so many ways, and I for one want a future with grizzly bears in it. I want to know that these massive and majestic creatures are still out there, eating berries and fish and bugs. I want to know that protected areas actually protect something. I want to know that there are watersheds where young grizzlies with their gangly long legs can be safe from hunting. And I want to know that I can go and explore the beauty of these areas without fearing I might accidentally get shot.

The Great Bear Rainforest is a model for conservation, with 33 percent of the region (2.1 million hectares) off-limits to commercial forestry and large-scale hydro generation. The network of protected areas is rightfully celebrated as a major step toward conserving the health of ecosystems in the region, and protecting rare and threatened species. Grizzly bears roam all through these protected areas, and fish the salmon that thrive in healthy forests. But provincial government policy appears contradictory—unless you take the cynical view that we are protecting habitat in order to have more bears to shoot.

If you’ve ever seen a grizzly bear, you will know, intrinsically, all that they bring to this world and why it is so important that we allow them to keep on doing their thing. It is humbling to see a bear. One is filled with wonder, with appreciation, and with a recognition that there is magic in the things we don’t fully understand.

To shoot a bear for sport cries out as a proclamation of arrogance, a desperate attempt to prove that we are superior to everything in the world around us. The evidence being the bear rug on the floor or the stuffed and standing grizzly bear skin in the corner. Bears that walk into a protected area in search of salmon and berries are leaving as dead bears, as trophies.

Most people I talk to shake their heads with disbelief when they learn that bear hunting is legal in the protected areas of the Great Bear Rainforest. It doesn’t have to be this way. The province has an opportunity to live up to the name and take steps to protect the great bears of the rainforest by making hunting illegal, both in protected areas and throughout the region.

Caitlyn Vernon is a coastal programs campaigner with Sierra Club B.C.