Yukon board asks gov't to shelve roadside grizzly hunting restrictions

The Yukon Fish and Wildlife Management Board is asking the territorial government to shelve a proposed regulation change that would restrict roadside bear hunting in an area of the territory. 

The territory is considering limiting the grizzly bear hunt — during the spring hunting season, within 30 metres of the centre line of a highway in southwest Yukon. However, the board says the issue is divisive, and a broader approach is needed.

"Instead of trying to deal with a very complex issue with a single one-off regulation change, let's build a plan," says Harvey Jessup, the board's vice-chair, "and at the end of the day ... we won't get 100 per cent agreement, but we'll have a plan that people can live with."

Instead of the blanket ban on hunting in the region, the Fish and Wildlife Management Board is proposing the development of a grizzly bear management plan for the territory, as well as an educational initiative on the bears for wildlife viewers and hunters. Jessup pointed to the territory's 2012 Wolf Conservation and Management Plan as an example of what the board is hoping to see.

"We just don't want to keep repeating ourselves," says Jessup. "This is the fourth or fifth time, I believe, the board has dealt with bear hunting along road sides. We don't want to do this forever.

"If, at the end of the plan, there is an agreement that there should be some hunting limitation, well, then at least it's supported by a plan, supported by a lot of community effort."

In a news release this week, Yukon Environment Minister Wade Istchenko said he had no specific comment on the board's recommendation. However, he added that: "I can assure the public that my cabinet colleagues and I will be giving this matter considerable reflection before coming to a formal decision.”