“Sometimes it gets nasty,” said Jason Moody, a patroller from Nuxalk Nation in Bella Coola.
Patrolling up and down British Columbia's coast with binoculars are a group of dedicated First Nations volunteers that boat right up to armed hunters, often American, in their vessels to dissuade them from killing at-risk grizzlies just for sport.
Called the Coastal Guardian Watchmen, they urge unsuspecting trophy hunters to halt their pursuit of grizzlies as insensitive to First Nations culture, and against tribal law.
“Sometimes it gets nasty,” said Jason Moody, a patroller from Nuxalk Nation in Bella Coola.
"Sometimes you get [trophy hunters] realizing, ‘OK, you guys don’t want the hunting around here. We’ll go somewhere else.'"
Foreign hunters from places like Virginia and Texas pay thousands of dollars to come to B.C.—to be in one of the few places left where the fourth-largest carnivore on the planet can be shot for a trophy head or a bear rug.
Many trophy hunters don't like the altercations with the now 16 native patrollers on the coast.
“It gets tense. Usually just having a presence is enough,” says William Housty, who chairs the Heiltsuk Nation resource management office in Bella Bella, and coordinates many of the indigenous watchmen.
Housty’s biggest worry is intoxicated hunters harming his crews that double as field researchers, quietly collecting grizzly-hair DNA in the woods.
“If there are drunk hunters walking around drinking Jack Daniels — who is to say they won’t shoot one our researchers. That’s one of our biggest beefs with the province,” he said.
The Guardian Watchmen do not have the legal powers to board vessels or enforce conservation laws, but they wish they did. Provincial officers, the Coast Guard and the RCMP are not seen often enough, said Housty.
And many hunters they come across are not carrying provincial licences.
"A lot of the people who come up here don’t actually have tags. They’re poachers,” said Housty.
The wildlife manager recalled an infamous incident in 2013 when NHL player Clayton Stoner let some coastal watchmen on board the famous hockey player's boat to photograph the defencemen’s recent grizzly kill.
The head and claws were removed, and Stoner smiled for the watchmen’s photo snaps that would soon become national news material.
“He let himself be an idiot poster child for the trophy hunt,” laughed Housty.
Stoner defended his bear kill at the time.
more
Coastal Guardian Watchmen confront armed trophy hunters to save grizzlies | National Observer
Patrolling up and down British Columbia's coast with binoculars are a group of dedicated First Nations volunteers that boat right up to armed hunters, often American, in their vessels to dissuade them from killing at-risk grizzlies just for sport.
Called the Coastal Guardian Watchmen, they urge unsuspecting trophy hunters to halt their pursuit of grizzlies as insensitive to First Nations culture, and against tribal law.
“Sometimes it gets nasty,” said Jason Moody, a patroller from Nuxalk Nation in Bella Coola.
"Sometimes you get [trophy hunters] realizing, ‘OK, you guys don’t want the hunting around here. We’ll go somewhere else.'"
Foreign hunters from places like Virginia and Texas pay thousands of dollars to come to B.C.—to be in one of the few places left where the fourth-largest carnivore on the planet can be shot for a trophy head or a bear rug.
Many trophy hunters don't like the altercations with the now 16 native patrollers on the coast.
“It gets tense. Usually just having a presence is enough,” says William Housty, who chairs the Heiltsuk Nation resource management office in Bella Bella, and coordinates many of the indigenous watchmen.
Housty’s biggest worry is intoxicated hunters harming his crews that double as field researchers, quietly collecting grizzly-hair DNA in the woods.
“If there are drunk hunters walking around drinking Jack Daniels — who is to say they won’t shoot one our researchers. That’s one of our biggest beefs with the province,” he said.
The Guardian Watchmen do not have the legal powers to board vessels or enforce conservation laws, but they wish they did. Provincial officers, the Coast Guard and the RCMP are not seen often enough, said Housty.
And many hunters they come across are not carrying provincial licences.
"A lot of the people who come up here don’t actually have tags. They’re poachers,” said Housty.
The wildlife manager recalled an infamous incident in 2013 when NHL player Clayton Stoner let some coastal watchmen on board the famous hockey player's boat to photograph the defencemen’s recent grizzly kill.
The head and claws were removed, and Stoner smiled for the watchmen’s photo snaps that would soon become national news material.
“He let himself be an idiot poster child for the trophy hunt,” laughed Housty.
Stoner defended his bear kill at the time.
more
Coastal Guardian Watchmen confront armed trophy hunters to save grizzlies | National Observer
