I am against the provisions…

I am against the provisions in the Proposed Changes to Black Bear Hunting Regulations requiring non-resident landowners to used a licensed guide to hunt black bears. I am a Canadian Citizen and landowner in the Town of Bruce Mines. This provision seems to go against the intentions of the revisions as it will negatively affect the tourism industry, as simply put, if this change to the regulation is made, my relatives, friend and I won't come to the region to hunt. Each year we travel to the region, pay for multiple nights of lodging to hotel and camp ground operators, buy groceries, buy meals at the local restaurants, and purchase gas and other supplies.

Further, we are all landowners in the area and pay taxes into the local communities. If we are forced to use a guide, we will choose to hunt elsewhere, and will likely sell our properties. This will in turn depress land value and reduce the tax roles of the communities.

We recognize the value of guides to the hunting community and seek to avoid conflict with the guiding industry. As such we make every effort to structure our hunts to have minimal impact to their activities and livelihood. We do this primarily by hunting mid-week on Tuesday, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Lastly, if we are forced to take our tourism dollars elsewhere, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry will also lose the non-resident license and tag fees that we pay each year.

I appreciate the support the Ministry provides to develop and support the black bear management program in Ontario and urge you to reconsider the proposed limits to non-resident black bear hunting.

Best regards.