Summary
The Tsilhqot’in National Government believes the once plentiful moose population in their territory has declined to worrying levels, saying the mountain pine beetle and the harvest of dead trees has had an impact on moose traditional food sources.
A decision to open large tracts of land in the devastated dead forests to logging brought new roads crisscrossing the lands. This has given greater access to hunters, with the moose population in their sights.
British Columbia is studying the issue to manage the area, but Chief Joseph Alphonse said it may be too late, reports The Province.
“We’re not finding (moose). I guess they’re not going to have a very successful study because there is not going to be very many samples provided because there is no more moose left.”
The province estimates there are 360 bull moose between Alexis Creek and Hanceville, but Alphonse disputes that number saying he doubts if there are even 30.
Tsilhqot’in territory is predominately lodgepole pine, fine dining for pine beetle, and there has been 15 years of harvest of the dead forests that the pine beetle has wiped out. The provincial government has begun a mandatory reporting system for hunters, which requires them to submit the bagged moose for inspection for data on size and age of the animal, among other regulations for hunting.
Alphonse said the new regulations around the moose harvest, however, has come too late. “If there is no moose in the forest, it makes no difference.