Babine Mountain - Mountain Goat LEH Season Change

The public is invited to comment on the proposed hunting regulation described below.

Status: Proposed

Region: 6

Management unit (MU): 6-8

Regulation type: Limited Entry Hunting

Species: Mountain Goat

Closing date: 16:30, March 22, 2024

Decision statement: Pending

Current regulation

Code	Area	M.U.	Zone	Season Dates	Class of Animal
5108	Babine Mt.	6-08	F	Sept 10 - Nov 15	Adult

Proposed regulation

Code	Area	M.U.	Zone	Season Dates	Class of Animal
5108	Babine Mt.	6-08	F	Sept 1 – Oct 31	Adult

Rationale

Hunting is permitted in some provincial parks following conservative prescribed hunting regulations. One such park is Babine Mountains Provincial Park, east of Smithers, BC. Park-use plans provide direction and objectives for many values in the park (recreation to wildlife harvesting). Wildlife managers set allocations for the number of goats that can be harvested each year based on scientific data including population size estimates and harvest rates and are intended to ensure populations of mountain goats remains viable.

The Management Plan for the Mountain Goat in British Columbia suggests that recreational activities in mountain goat habitats be restricted from November 1^st to July 15^th, to reduce overlap with sensitive winter and kidding/early rearing periods. For conservation purposes, BC Parks has directed a seasonal non-motorized recreational closure (i.e., no hiking) from November 1^st to July 15^th within the Ganokwa Canyon, to align with winter and natal habitat usage periods as outlined in the provincial mountain goat management plan (Figure 1). This was implemented with an oversight given the current LEH authorization period for hunting remains open until November 15^th.  A regulatory alignment is required for the entire LEH Zone 6-08F, to align with the intended seasonal restrictions implemented by Parks for the Ganokwa Canyon area.  As such, it is proposed that LEH timing aligns with the BC Parks seasonal closure of November 1^st to July 15^th; therefore, the suggested LEH season concludes on October 31^st.

Additional information