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Make your voice heard: Stop the hunt

By Simon Jackson

Spirit Bear Youth Coalition, February 13, 2010

One person.

In a world of seemingly overwhelming and unstoppable issues, it takes just one person to stand up and make their voice heard to change the course of history and create a better world for all life.

And it will take the signature of just one person – a young First Nation student from Klemtu, a farmer from the Peace River, a hunter from the Kootenays, a lawyer from downtown Vancouver, a member of the British Columbian government – to stop the trophy hunting of the Great Bear’s Great Bears.

Of course, Canada’s West Coast, also known as the Great Bear Rainforest, is one of the most pristine, spectacular and ecologically important areas of the world — home to a remarkable diversity of life.

In this rainforest, there are, in fact, two Great Bears. The vast tract of coastline is home to grizzly bears, as well as the genetically unique subspecies of black bear known as the Kermode or “spirit bear.” One out of every 10 black Kermode bears gives birth to a white bear. And today there are fewer than 400 of these white bears remaining.

This, however, is not an anti-hunting essay. Hunting is not immoral and, in fact, hunters are often the environment’s best friend. Yet every situation is unique and, in this circumstance, I passionately believe that the trophy hunting of bears in this one area makes no sense. Although tremendous progress has been made to protect the Great Bears of the Great Bear, they remain endangered, along with all of the goodwill that has been created to date, because, in part, the B.C. government continues to support the trophy hunting of grizzly and black Kermode bears – the producers of the rare white, non-albino gene.

From sustaining this region’s nutrient cycle, to ensuring a future for all of the coast’s interconnected and diverse life, to safeguarding one of the most critical carbon sinks on the planet: we cannot afford to reduce our margin for error in protecting the bears that are the lynchpin of this globally important ecosystem. There is no economically sound justification from perpetuating the hunt – it is bad bear management and it runs against the grain of public opinion, especially that of the coastal First Nations.

We must do better. We can do better.

You might believe decision makers will never heed the message of the undersigned to stop the trophy hunt of the Great Bears and that this is an issue, like so many issues, is unwinnable. To you I must say: you’re wrong.

At the age of seven, I learned firsthand through a lemonade stand and a few letters to decision makers that one person, no matter their age and no matter where they live, can make a difference for all life. It was the most important lesson I ever learned and one that led to the founding of the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition at the age of thirteen and a now nearly fifteen year long quest to give a voice to the spirit bear.

This campaign, which grew from a middle school letter writing campaign to a major forthcoming Hollywood CGI animated movie, was not a singular effort and we were not solely or even largely responsible for the incredible progress that has been made toward saving the spirit bear and creating a more sustainable Great Bear Rainforest. But we did make a difference and that difference began with the singular belief that each individual could help save the spirit bear. And as each person became empowered to stand-up and make their voice heard, each person’s ability to create change for this bear was enhanced.

In 2001, in the lead-up to the first land-use agreement for BC’s central coast, we sent letters from more than 25,000 young people alone to the Premier of British Columbia. It was one letter that the Premier picked up and acknowledged that it was indeed time to get to work on saving the spirit bear.

One letter helped change the future of the spirit bear.

And it took all 24, 999 letters to make that one letter count.

That’s the power of one. That’s difference each of us can make when we unite as one voice to enhance the voice of others, for this issue and any issue we believe in.

I’m under no illusions: I know that stopping the trophy hunt of all Kermode bears and grizzly bears on the BC coast, especially in all protected areas, isn’t the most pressing challenge facing our world today or even facing British Columbia. But it is a critical issue and it is an issue simple to resolve: by voicing your support with a simple signature, we can show our elected leaders how we desire to be represented. And by representing not only three quarters of British Columbians, the vast majority of Canadians, and all citizens who we share this world with, we have the opportunity to do something far greater than just save bears and their most sensitive balance in life. We have the opportunity to restore hope to a generation that has lost it and remind every person that one person, with no remarkable skills or intellect, can grab hold of a cause, make their voice heard, and change the world.

The one person to save the Great Bear’s Great Bears begins with you and each one of you, from the first signatory Andrew Wright to the last signatory to Premier Gordon Campbell, together, can end this pointless, unsustainable hunt and truly, meaningfully change our world for the Great Bears and for us all, for generation after generation.

Please sign the petition to stop the hunt.

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