Provincial Grizzly Bear Framework in Final Stages – St’át’imc Contribution towards Grizzly Bear Protection

Feature Picture of Blondie and Duffy (re-introduced mid-June 2023)

Grizzly bears are habitat generalists (a species that can thrive in a wide variety of environmental conditions and utilize a diverse range of resources). Their distribution and abundance are largely driven by habitat productivity and historical & current human-caused mortality patterns. The species is sensitive to human disturbance; in particular, settled valley bottoms and roads travelled by people create direct impacts on bears through human-caused mortality and indirect impacts on bears through displacement from key habitats. The 2012 COSEWIC status report for grizzly bears states “Their poor condition in some parts of the range, combined with their naturally low reproductive rates and increasing pressures of resource extraction and cumulative impacts in currently intact parts of the range, heighten concern for this species if such pressures are not successfully reversed.”.

The Ministry of Forests have been working in collaboration with BC First Nation communities with developing a provincial stewardship framework for Grizzly Bears (known as the Grizzly Bear Framework). This indigenous-led framework will improve conservation efforts and identify knowledge gaps with protecting the Grizzly Bear population and habitats

Michelle Edwards, SCC Tmicw Coordinator, was recently interviewed by Global News about her work with Grizzly Bear protection in the St’át’imc Nation and the Grizzly Bear Framework. She also brought forward insight on how government should be protecting the Grizzly bear and its habitat. Edwards identifies the St’át’imc Nations “role in implementing our Grizzly Bear resolution signed in 2011 and then resigned for implementation in 2024 at the St’át’imc Gathering. The Grizzly Bear Stewardship Framework is a place for us to make certain our knowledge, expertise and concerns are identified for the Grizzly Bears.”

Link to Global News interview: Grizzly bear protection roundtable getting underway | Watch News Videos Online

The final stages of the Grizzly Bear Frameworks completion sparks a new chapter in conservation efforts for the species, and there will be more news to come in the final stage as the groups expect the final completion to be done by the end of this year.

To read Global News article about the framework, please click the link below:

Global News – B.C.’s new, Indigenous-led grizzly bear stewardship framework inches towards finish line

Background of Grizzly Bear Recovery Efforts in the St’át’imc Nation:

Continuing efforts for the Stein-Nahatlatch (SN) Grizzly bears population are ongiong as the SN overlaps St’át’imc, Nlaka’pamux, and Sto:lo First Nations territories. The St’át’imc, Nlaka’pamux, and Sto:lo are distinct Nations who have inhabited our respective Traditional Territories and have lived with Grizzly bears since time immemorial. This co-existence is based on respect and hundreds of years of sharing the landscape, food resources and water. Grizzly bears are also a fundamental part of the St’át’imc culture and feature prominently in the traditional knowledge and stories that are tied to this land. The SN Grizzly bear population shares the majority of their territory with the St’at’imc Nation; the remaining habitat overlaps in the southeast with Nlak’apamux and Sto:lo Nation territories. There have been recovery efforts made throughout the years by these Nations towards long-term recovery survival of the Stein-Nahatlatch (SN) Grizzly bear.

Currently, St’át’imc Chiefs Council (SCC) is leading a rewrite of the Stein-Nahatlatch (SN) Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan to assert Jurisdiction over SN Grizzly Bear recovery after the Nation found it impossible to implement the Province’s recovery plan that did not provide us enforcement for the recovery of these bears. For the SN Grizzly Bear to recover, we must let them be with no interactions, which includes no recreation vehicles and no hunting in their territory.