First Nations Call for Protection of Bear Dens via Immediate Provincial Legislation and Support for First Nations Legal Orders 

Kwakiutl Nation and the Union of BC Indian Chiefs launch an initiative committing to First Nations legal orders as well as Provincial Wildlife Act policy-mechanism to end the long-standing policy-loophole on unprotected bear dens.

March 6, 2024 – Vancouver, British Columbia

Today, we raise our hands to community leader and MLA Adam Olsen for tabling a Bear Den Protection Wildlife Act Amendment in the BC Legislature. Provincial policy measures and mechanisms have been woefully inadequate in addressing this long-standing problem and it is long overdue that we close this loophole once and for all.  

Kwakiutl First Nation and the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) are calling on the province to form and fund a joint panel with the UBCIC to co-evolve legal orders that protect bear homelands and dens; to protect bear dens through the addition of new protections and enforcement under the Wildlife Act whereby it is deemed an offense when an individual or corporate entity disturbs, molests, damages or destroys a bear den whether it is located on crown land or private land; and to ensure the protection of bear dens is included in the upcoming legislative changes to the Wildlife Act before the spring 2024 sitting of Legislature concludes.

Bears in many parts of BC use winter dens in standing and downed large-diameter trees which occur primarily in old growth forests. These large structures are recognized as a finite resource necessary for population sustainability of black bears because secure den sites are essential for reproduction: cubs can only be born and raised in secure den sites. The past 100+ years of logging old-growth forests has greatly reduced the supply of trees that are suitable for denning. Furthermore, currently existing dens in second growth forests (e.g., stumps and logs) are decaying and will not be replaced because current forest harvesting targets stands long before large-diameter trees (i.e., those suitable for dens) have developed. Inadequate den sites can lead to the death of both cubs and mothers from predatory and cannibalistic attacks. 

First Nations and organizations like Awi’nakola Foundation are stepping in to celebrate and help cultivate First Nations legal orders that uphold our responsibilities with bears through a legally pluralistic approach that enables First Nations self-determination and simultaneously activates crown legal mechanisms to address the urgent need for bear den protection. If provincial and federal governments are serious about aligning policies and practices with their global commitments to 30x30 Biodiversity or the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Sustainable Development Nexus Resolution on animal welfare, bear den protections would be an effective pathway. 

Quotes

“Bears hold a very sacred role within First Nations culture and worldviews. They are also one of the most important ecosystem stewards active on the landbase. They teach us about medicines, food and how to be good neighbors with one another. We know that we have a spiritual responsibility to respect bear habitat and if we get this right, it will mean we will also be protecting all the biodiversity that comes with bears being safe on the territory where they belong.”
– Chief David Mungo Knox, Kwakiutl Nation

"The thought of a mother bear with cubs in her winter den being destroyed is horrifying. Bears are often seen as protectors. But it seems right now it’s our turn to uphold our side of the bargain with our kinship relations with bears. We need swift non-partisan cooperation on this work so that we get policies and laws in place as soon as possible. No more excuses or delays. Let’s protect bear den sites now.”
-Grand Chief Stewart Phillip 

“Federal and Provincial politicians are all singing off the 30x30 song-sheet for biodiversity protections at a 10,000-foot level. But the rubber hits the road on these ground-level policies that communities are demanding. The fact that bear dens remain unprotected across so-called British Columbia is an embarrassing regulatory failure. This is a very basic wildlife policy 101 measure that should have been in place decades ago. When we protect cultural keystone wildlife habitats like bear dens, we are upholding our sacred relations, protecting old growth and biodiversity all at once. Enough with the talk-and-log, let's get this done.”

-Mark Worthing, Campaigns & Programs Director at Awi’nakola Foundation.

“I have been calling for the protection of bear dens for decades, the province’s own research study in the early 1990s showed that this was a necessary step to take. Bear cubs can only be born and raised in suitable, safe den sites so these structures are critical to the sustainability of bear populations. The fact that BC has protected bear dens in Haida Gwaii and the Great Bear Rainforest, but not elsewhere in BC, is nonsensical. If they are important there, why not everywhere?”

Helen Davis, Artemis Wildlife Consultants

Quick facts

- Black bear (Ursus americanus) denning habitat is crucial to the long-term survival of the species in British Columbia.  In winter, black bears survive low temperatures and low food availability by hibernating in dens.  

Ideal den sites have several qualities that provide bears with what they need to survive the winter months, including warmth, protection from inclement weather, and security from disturbance and predation.

-A lack of suitable den sites could result in death for individual black bears, as deficiencies in a site could lead to the following outcomes:  increased cannibalism, increased predation by wolves and other predators, and death when energy reserves are fatally depleted because of inadequate protection from low temperatures or inclement weather.  

-Secure den sites are essential for reproduction: cubs can only be born and raised in secure den sites; inadequate den sites can lead to the death of both cubs and adult females from predatory and cannibalistic attacks. 

-Research conducted on Vancouver Island has shown that black bears in that region only use den structures associated with standing and downed large-diameter trees, which occur primarily in old growth forests. Old growth forest attributes are recognized as a finite resource necessary for population recruitment of black bears.

-The past 100+ years of logging old-growth forests on Vancouver Island has greatly reduced the supply of trees that are suitable for denning. Furthermore, currently existing dens in second growth forests (e.g. stumps and logs) are decaying and will not be replaced because current forest harvesting targets stand long before large-diameter trees (i.e., those suitable for dens) have developed.

-While some forest harvesting companies on Vancouver Island voluntarily conserve black bear dens on a case-by-case basis, the extent to which this happens is not adequate for the long-term conservation of black bear populations.  

-Research has shown that dens are used for decades (or longer) and are frequently reused by multiple, successive generations of bears.  However, bears may skip the use of a den in some years.  This emphasizes the need for regulation to protect suitable den sites, regardless of whether they are occupied.

-Black bears do not tend to travel outside their home range to den, the protection of sites must apply across the landscape. Focusing den conservation solely in small reserves (e.g., Old Growth Management Areas) does not supply enough dens for a significant portion of the bear population.

-If logging blocks are not adequately surveyed for bear dens, identification of dens may not occur until harvesting is underway, which limits available options for den conservation.

-Though protection currently exists for bear dens in Haida Gwaii and the Great Bear Rainforest through Land Use Orders, it is proposed that there should be an addition to the Wildlife Act to include “A person commits an offense if the person, except as provided by regulation, disturbs, molests, damages or destroys a bear den” and that this “applies to a bear den located on Crown land or private land throughout British Columbia.”

-In 2001, the province of British Columbia estimated its black bear population to be somewhere between 120,000 – 160,000 individuals and black bears are ranked ‘S5’ (yellow list) by the BC Conservation Data Centre (i.e., populations are widespread, abundant, and secure).  This data, however, has never been verified.

-Without regulatory measures designed to protect the essential habitat of safe winter den sites, B.C.’s black bear populations will be at serious risk of decline.  

From a regulatory perspective, in addition to the protection of current den structures within the Wildlife Act, it is imperative that management practices implement means to recruit new, future den structures and the ecological processes that create them.

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For more information contact:

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, UBCIC President
[email protected]
250-490-5314

Chief David Mungo Knox, Walas Namugwis.  Kwakiutl First Nation
[email protected]
250-230-0245

Mark Worthing, Campaigns & Programs Director Awinakola Foundatio
[email protected]
250-8893575

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