Valhalla Provincial Park is a pristine local park adjacent to Slocan Lake that offers many recreational opportunities such as camping, hiking, and wildlife viewing. Most people who have visited the Mt. Gimli area have had the opportunity to view mountain goats in a spectacular setting.
Mountain goats are known to avoid human contact, but here they have become habituated to hikers and climbers and are more “available.” It’s similar to the elk in Banff National Park and the bison in Yellowstone National Park that are known to wander near humans and provide a rare viewing opportunity. In a national park, those elk are fully protected, with no hunting allowed. In contrast, hunting is permitted in most provincial parks, including Valhalla.
In general the mandate of parks is to preserve a piece of habitat in its natural form, as well as all the animals and plants that are found in that park. As such, it isn’t surprising that most people are unaware that hunting is permitted in our provincial parks. There are signs that explain not to feed wildlife because it can lead to the death of a bear. However, there are seldom signs posted to warn visitors that bear hunting might be occurring within the park.
Provincial parks are divided into various designations based on the activities allowed and level of conservation. In Valhalla Park, hunting is only allowed in the “Recreation Zone”, which also has facilities such as trails and campsites. Therefore hunting is occurring in the same area of the park as other forms of recreation.
It seems like a paradox to have visitors viewing wildlife and other people shooting them in the same location, but it does happen. In fact, in September 2011, a mountain goat was shot by a hunter near a popular campsite in the Mt Gimli (Mulvey drainage) area of Valhalla Park. It should be noted that the hunters were licensed and in compliance with all requirements of the law. That morning, some park visitors took numerous photos of the same goat and it`s herd from their campsite and then found the animal remains near their tents when they returned in the afternoon. It was an unfortunate incident which has sparked local controversy. A November 2011 article in the Valley Voice has caused many letters to the editor in support of a no hunting zone.
In December 2011, BC Parks and Wildlife officially proposed a “no hunting zone” in the Mulvey (drainage) area due to this incident. Changing the status of a park is a complicated and lengthy process that must obtain approvals from the Fish and Wildlife branch of the Ministry of Environment. The original Valhalla Park Management Plan stated that no goat hunting would be allowed in the park, however the plan had never officially been approved.
There is a decreasing amount of crown land available, therefore potential closures such as this can be a sensitive topic with hunters. Hunting is considered a form of recreation and it is a way of life for many people. My own family has been hunting locally for many generations for sustenance purposes. In a time of growing support for locally produced food, many people consider hunting a sustainable means of providing food.
Can such different recreational activities co-exist; can hunters and wildlife viewers use the same park? In some BC parks such as Kinaskan Lake Provincial Park, hunting is not allowed at all. Valhalla Park may be able to support hunting but perhaps in restricted areas so that we don’t repeat the recent mountain goat incident. Instead of pitting conservationists against the hunters, maybe the boundaries for each activity should be defined so they are using different areas of the park.
Cindy Walker