B.C. First Nation plans emergency meeting to discuss moose allocation
WILLIAMS LAKE, B.C. – A First Nation in British Columbia’s central Interior has called an emergency summit to respond to the provincial government’s moose harvest allocation in the region.
The Tsilhqot’in Nation says urgent action is needed to ensure the safety and health of moose populations with the territory north and west of Williams Lake.
Tsilhqot’in chiefs set to meet on July 10 say moose populations have declined dramatically in the Cariboo region over the last two decades, threatening the First Nation’s food supply and its Aboriginal rights to social, sustenance and ceremonial food sources.
The chiefs say in a news release that last year’s wildfires, including the Plateau complex of fires that burned more than 5,200 square kilometres of Chilcotin woodland, have further harmed dwindling moose habitat.