Engagement Summary

On November 7, 2011, the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations announced the launch of a new, permanent public engagement website that gives British Columbians an opportunity to review and comment on proposed angling, hunting and trapping regulations.
 
Regulations for angling, hunting and trapping are reviewed and developed every two years, with alternating years for fish and for wildlife. The website ensures that the public can review and submit comments on proposed regulations, over and above government’s regular face-to-face stakeholder consultations, and is part of ongoing efforts to enhance public engagement and create a more efficient and productive regulations-development process. New angling, hunting and trapping advisory teams have also been created to guide regulations development in collaboration with stakeholders.
 
Proposed regulations are posted to the website for review and comment for approximately four weeks. Each posted regulation shows the species, region, review period closing date, as well as a clear summary of the existing regulation, the proposed regulation and the rationale for the change. Registered users can choose to receive email updates informing them of new proposal postings.
 
Once a decision is made and the regulation is finalized, the result is posted to the website.
 

Timeframe

Ongoing
 

Input Received

There are approximately 6,800 registered users on the Ministry’s Angling, Hunting and Trapping Engagement Website.
 
The site has resulted in over 5,780 comments for proposed changes to hunting and trapping regulations for the current 2016 – 2018 hunting and trapping seasons.
 

Input leads to action:

There are between 50 and 100 proposed regulations posted on the site annually; angling regulations are amended on odd years, and hunting/trapping regulations are amended on even years.
 
Comments received, among many other factors, are considered as part of the decision-making process by the Ministry. The website has been a valuable tool in identifying issues that are of importance to the general public, and there have been instances where comments have provided additional information that have resulted in amendments to proposed regulations.
 
To see a list of what regulations are currently being reviewed around the province or to become a registered user, please visit the Angling, Hunting and Trapping Engagement Website.