Gitanyow Territory in northern British Columbia covers around 6,200 square kilometres. Within that territory there are 2 houses (frog and wolf) and 8 clans. Each clan manages their land uniquely, but one constant between each house is the need to manage human-animal contact and conflicts.
Jimmy Morgan works for the wildlife and fisheries office and is in the Hereditary Chiefs Guardian Program. Jimmy was one of many presenters at a bear-human conflict conference held by the office of the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs this week in Smithers.
The aim of the conference was to share information between the Gitanyow, Conservation Officers, and organization heads who work in wildlife management. The Guardians Program is meant to give Gitanyow clans more freedom to manage their communities’ relationships to bears (by appointing a point person) rather than overwhelming Conservation Officers with phone calls and enact best-practices regarding bear paths and composting.
This is a pilot project which will next be presented to the Hereditary Chiefs for approval.
