WHEREAS the resources, authority and responsibility to manage ungulate populations is with the Province of British Columbia; AND WHEREAS the combination of favourable habitats, no natural predators, and the inability to allow hunting have contributed to expanding urban deer populations and exacerbated the problem of human-deer conflict in urban areas: Therefore be it resolved that the Province of British Columbia provide resources, including conservation officers and urban wildlife biologists, and build the necessary partnerships with Health Canada and local governments to address deer over population.
Ministry of Forests, Lands Natural Resource Operations The Ministry is committed to partnering with local governments to facilitate the development of scientifically appropriate, humane and socially acceptable urban deer management solutions. Ministry staff assist communities in managing urban wildlife conflicts in a number of ways, including participation on community-based committees, provision of technical advice, issuing permits to manage deer populations in urban areas and loaning available equipment as required. The Province and Union of BC Municipalities UBCM are working together to pursue a policy of enhanced collaboration on urban deer. In September 2014, a joint ProvincialMunicipal clinic was held at the UBCM convention, and in January 2015, an urban deer workshop was held in Richmond. At the January workshop in Richmond, the UBCM and local governments agreed to prepare a set of recommendations on urban deer management for the provincial governments consideration. Our responses to those recommendations were presented at the 2015 UBCM Convention. In addition, at the September 2015 UBCM convention, the provincial government committed to forming an urban deer advisory committee and has allocated up to 100,000 for future urban deer management operations. The creation of this committee will help ensure greater collaboration between municipalities and the Province and provide the resources necessary for communities to make informed choices when exploring potential solutions to urban deer issues.