tiatives, such as Land and Resource Management Plans (LRMPs), Protected Areas Strategy (PAS), and the Commission on Resources and Environment (CORE). In areas where any of these processes are occurring or proposed, Wildlife Branch staff may provide relevant information and, if desired, recommend the establishment of a GBMA through the landuse designation process. These processes require public consultation and many different stakeholder groups would have to be included in the decision. Representatives of First Nations groups as well as public stakeholder groups such as the B.C. Wildlife Federation (a notably pro-hunting group), the Guide Outfitters Association of BC, the federation of BC Naturalists, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, and the Outdoor Recreation Council of BC would all have to be included (British Columbia Ministry of Environment, Lands, and Parks,1995), in addition to local interest groups and environmental groups such as the Rainforest Conservation Society. Clearly within this gathering there would be very different viewpoints on grizzly bear management, with some of these groups at opposite ends of the spectrum on some issues (most notably hunting). Once all of these interests were established, it would be the decision of the LRMP or the CORE table itself, not the Wildlife Branch, to designate a given area as a GBMA. In areas where there have been no land use planning processes occurring, and there are not any proposed, the Wildlife Branch may only propose a no-hunting zone after consulting with local interests. These no-hunting zones would not be protected from any other types of activities such as resource extraction and industrial road building, as well as recreational activities such as camping and skiing. While closing an area to hunting does require consultation by the Wildlife Branch, a step could usually be taken unilaterally be the Branch if it was determined to be in the best conservation interest...
