(Keystone) Caribou and Standard Basin Closure in effect next season.

[SRS]

Closing more areas does note protect caribou and will not ensure a succesful recovery. I honestly believe that government just doesn't understand what the snowmobiling community does to protect Mountain Caribou. They just can't grasp it. They need to walk a season in our shoes. They need to purchase, put up and take down as many signs as we do, patrol the areas and attend the meetings without pay.

 

[CUSO]

do caribou like glaciers? because alot of our closures out this way are glaciers.......has nothing to do with heliskiing i bet

Which glacier are you referring to?

 

[Powder Puff]

Mr. Peel states in his interview with the Times that "he doesn`t expect any further closures." That is exactly what Mr. Ritchie with MoE told us after he thanked us for working on our SMA for 4 yrs., the SMA that Gov. used as a platelet for the province. Then Mr. Peel comes along 1 1/2 yrs. later and tells us our deal was with MoE and he`s ILMB, NO DEAL.

We got bamboozled, butt good this time.
We`ve got volunteer directors on the Caribou committee resigning now and our volunteer member patrollers turning in their jackets, they are done.

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/fw/wildlife/snowmobile-closures/

 

[snopro]

Sorry Kathy because I don't usually pay attention to politics but what government is in power in BC right now, the Communist party or the Green party?

 

[FernieHawk]

For the first time, we saw 6 Caribou in Caribou Basin at the end of March. We saw them in the second basin and we stopped about 500 yards away…they knew we were there and kept walking towards us. We moved off to the east, out of their trajectory and circled down to the lake. After we were done ripping the pow, we headed back to the first basin and noticed the group of caribou had ‘Highmarked’ us. They went up the steep face to the north of our normal route and down into the first basin using a steep Chute that we have never ever climbed…can you say avalanche hazard? What the Eff. We then saw them sidehilling along the lower third of the avalanche slope…again an area we always avoid due to the terrain traps at the bottom of the slope. HOW MANY OF THESE CRITTERS DIE IN AVALANCHES?

What the EFF is going on? These animals were not afraid of us, nor were they stressed by our presence. We are getting SCREWED.

Such BS. It’s time for some civil disobedience.

 

[oler1234]

So with these ares closed to sledders... does this mean the heliskiers are now allowed access or can claim tenure up here??

Hmmm am i allowed in if i come in through the back side??:d

 

[team dirt]

For the first time, we saw 6 Caribou in Caribou Basin at the end of March. We saw them in the second basin and we stopped about 500 yards away…they knew we were there and kept walking towards us. We moved off to the east, out of their trajectory and circled down to the lake. After we were done ripping the pow, we headed back to the first basin and noticed the group of caribou had ‘Highmarked’ us. They went up the steep face to the north of our normal route and down into the first basin using a steep Chute that we have never ever climbed…can you say avalanche hazard? What the Eff. We then saw them sidehilling along the lower third of the avalanche slope…again an area we always avoid due to the terrain traps at the bottom of the slope. HOW MANY OF THESE CRITTERS DIE IN AVALANCHES?

What the EFF is going on? These animals were not afraid of us, nor were they stressed by our presence. We are getting SCREWED.

Such BS. It’s time for some civil disobedience.

This is the kind of imformation that needs to be relayed to the bioligists. If we can make our precence in the hills an asset to the caribou team in means of reporting it can only help us. Also wolf sightings and wolf kill sights should be documented and reported. This type of info has helped us maintain what little area we have left in the Seymour Arm region. I have been told that there are no more collard caribou left so any help with sightings of tracks and animals is very appreciated. They might be blowing smoke up my a$s but it actually does seem to be helping. Only time will tell.

 

[team dirt]

So with these ares closed to sledders... does this mean the heliskiers are now allowed access or can claim tenure up here??

Hmmm am i allowed in if i come in through the back side??:d

Heli skiers signed there deals back in the 80's and have alot of financial clout behind them. The rules they have to follow are pretty lame compared to what is demanded from us.

 

[snopro]

This is all going to end up like Yellowstone National Park. There is way to much resources wasted on what is going on in every little corner of the boundaries. When a wolf takes a chit in Yellowstone someone is documenting it. We need to make a stand before humans become extinct in parks and closure area's.

 

[SRS]

Ultimately a Minister signs off on the closure as it’s a change to legislation. The problem is that the Minister typically has very little history on the issue. He depends on his staff to give him the straight goods. If his staff favours one direction over another that’s the recommendation that moves up.
So.....

The Mountain Caribou Recovery Team is making the recommendations to the Ministers based on the Science Teams recommendations. They hide behind the statement “that’s what the scientists say.” What about what we the snowmobilers in the backcountry have to say? Our skill set means little to nothing to government. I don’t have a PHD in snowmobiling and my hands on experience isn’t valued enough.

Does the Science Team have their own agenda and what happend to fair representation?

Who is checking the Science Team’s work? Does anyone question if what they are saying is accurate? Are other scientists questioning the scientific processes and findings?

The Provincial Government makes the statement that they are mandated to recover Mountain Caribou by the Federal Government and the Species at Risk Act. Has the Provincial Government made it clear to the Federal Government what the impacts of reducing allowable cut to an already struggling Forest Industry and closing a total of 2 million hectares to snowmobiling does for small communities that depend on witer tourism?

Are Mountain Caribou even recoverable? Can they even be saved and if so at what cost?

Mr. Peel states in his interview with the Times that "he doesn`t expect any further closures." - Well of course, seriously, what’s left to close?

 

[raceu4it]

has any sled organization looked into there own independent caribou study to back there findings in a scientific presentation? and if so could a sledder or any other back country user check it out?

 

[SRS]

The British Columbia Snowmobile Federation looked into hiring their own biologist. The biggest problem that we face is funding. The second issue is finding a biologist that actually wants to take this on. Government funds a variety of studies. The scientist hired by government isn't going to risk his funding by perhaps coming to a different conclusion.... Like I said our biggest issue is a lack of funding.... don't worry though... we haven't given up the fight yet.... we'll see what we can do. Decisions have been reversed in the past. It's harder to do but it can be done. As always.... thanks for your support.

Angie

 

[Fatdaddy]

What a crock of chit Maybe they should shut all highway travel to Mica Dam down n air lift to n from only There is more hazard to these caribou here from traffic than our sleds in the mtn Sounds like some excess Wieggle cash floating around lining pockets

 

[BOOSTED]

food for thought here people,
the meetings and studies that are done by goverment funded (aka, we the people). Im sure have to be public knowledge, so somewhere somehow we need too get a hold of these documents and go over them..
I think its about time that the guilty government parties have to educate US on exactly what they are doing! shouldnt be the other way around.
besides it was our tax money (residents and tourists) that paid for these studies and funded closure operations.
thoughts?

D

 

[CUSO]

food for thought here people,
the meetings and studies that are done by goverment funded (aka, we the people). Im sure have to be public knowledge, so somewhere somehow we need too get a hold of these documents and go over them..
I think its about time that the guilty government parties have to educate US on exactly what they are doing! shouldnt be the other way around.
besides it was our tax money (residents and tourists) that paid for these studies and funded closure operations.
thoughts?

D

I looked around a while back on the net and found some extensive research on the mountain caribou. I will try to dig it up.

 

[LID]

I looked around a while back on the net and found some extensive research on the mountain caribou. I will try to dig it up.

I think two big things that research showed was that the caribou were dying off just as quickly in National Parks (no motorized access at all) as they were in recreation or logging areas. I think it also showed that the "experts" transplanted 20 or more caribou down into Oregon (I think) and they all died.

I believe they want to try and do more of that. They'll transplant a herd, they will die again (suprise) and they will blame sledders and close more areas down.

 

[SRS]

The reports are public information. I have copies of most of them. If you would like a copy let me know. We the Clubs in BC have argued these reports many times with various levels of government. We have a signed Mememorandum of Understanding with Government including Best Practices for Snowmobiling in Caribou habitat. Many areas of in the province have signed Stewardship Management Agreements. In the last 20 years alone the RSC and SRS have invested over $143,000 in Environmental Stewardship activities. This does not include all of the volunteer hours. We are doing our part. It's time for government to start doing theirs. Closing areas should not be considered a means of management. We have sought out solutions and proposed alternative means of management. We want government to work WITH us and we are requesting that they come back to the table. We want to find solutions while maintaing snowmobiling opportunities.

 

[moyiesledhead]

has any sled organization looked into there own independent caribou study to back there findings in a scientific presentation? and if so could a sledder or any other back country user check it out?

Most of the science on Mountain Caribou already supports what we've been saying all along. Snowmobiles had nothing to do with the decline in the population. It was caused by predation in the snow free months. We had one deputy minister agree with that right to our faces at a meeting in Kamloops. Then the precautionary principle gets applied because the actual science isn't supporting what the tree huggers want, and all the facts seem to get thrown out the window. When the facts no longer matter, well.....I'm not sure any more how we fight that.

 

[team dirt]

The way things are going in 5 years the caribou will all be dead and then it will be the alpine squirell or some other creature that they will use against us. This is a fight we will be fighting till the end of time or until they ban sledding all together.

 

[moyiesledhead]

The way things are going in 5 years the caribou will all be dead and then it will be the alpine squirell or some other creature that they will use against us. This is a fight we will be fighting till the end of time or until they ban sledding all together.

Totally agree. Caribou are just the current "species of convenience". We're already starting to see opposition to some of our other riding areas down here using Grizzly bears as an excuse! It'll never end.