A Whitehorse man with a background in wildlife management has concerns with proposed changes to hunting regulations currently under review.

Jim Haney says there’s more to some of the proposals than meets the eye.

Three in particular are bothersome in how they seem to focus on resident hunters without a whole lot of clarity as to why, he said in a recent interview.

Haney points to the proposal to raise the seal fees for moose and caribou, the proposal to bring in permit hunts for Dall sheep in subzones west of Whitehorse, and the change to management strategies caribou hunting along the Dempster Highway.

A former president of the Yukon Fish and Game Association for seven years, as well as a former member of the wildlife management board for five years, Haney said he’s not opposed to hiking the moose and caribou fees from $5 to $10.

If you consider the rationale Environment Yukon and the management board are using to support their call for increased fees, he said, one has to look deeper.

The recommendation says raising the fees will bring the price for moose and caribou tags even with other big game seals.

There’s also “a sentiment that fees at this level undervalues Yukon wildlife,” the recommendation reads.

Haney said fees for non-resident hunters guided by big game outfitters are substantially lower than in B.C. and the N.W.T.

The average fee for a grizzly bear tag for non-resident hunters in the N.W.T. and B.C. is $2,065 compared to $525 in the Yukon, Haney said.

Non-resident hunters pay an average of $685 to hunt sheep in the N.W.T. and B.C. while they pay less than half in the Yukon, or $260, he pointed out.

It’s the same for all big game fees for non-resident hunters, he pointed out, noting that tags for moose in the N.W.T. and B.C. are $438 compared to $155 in the Yukon, and $428 for caribou compared to $155 here.

If the government and management board are concerned about public sentiment regarding how the level of fees for resident hunters undervalues wildlife, Haney suggested, they should be looking at the “firesale” fees non-resident hunters are paying.

Non-resident hunters, mostly Europeans and Americans, are paying tens of thousands of dollars for big game hunts, and they’re not going to balk at higher tag fees here, he said.

Environment Yukon and the management board are looking at how they can direct the additional revenue from resident moose and caribou tags to the Yukon Fish and Wildlife Enhancement Trust Fund, which is overseen by the management board.

Haney said increasing tag fees for residents would raise thousands more for the wildlife enhancement fund while hiking fees for non-resident hunters would raise several hundred thousands more.

The Yukon Fish and Wildlife Management Board will host a public meeting Tuesday night at the Yukon Inn to discuss the 15 proposed changes to regulations under the Wildlife Act. The board hosts such a meeting every fall.

Following public input, it forwards recommendations to the minister of Environment.

Included in this year’s proposed changes are recommendations to increase fishing restrictions on several popular lakes with campgrounds – Fox, Frenchman, Kusawa and Twin lakes.

Haney is also concerned the recommendation by Environment Yukon to impose a permit hunt for resident sheep hunters in parts of game management zone seven is something of an end-run to address the sudden influx of Dall sheep taken by the big game outfitter.

The outfitting concession that includes parts of zone seven was seized by the government in 2002 following mismanagement by the previous outfitter.

There was no big game outfitter operating the concession for more than 10 years until there was a settlement. The concession was sold to another big game outfitter, much to the objections of many Yukon hunters.

For more than 10 years, resident hunters did not require a permit to hunt sheep in the five subzones in question, and the annual harvest was below what Environment Yukon considers sustainable.

In the past three seasons, however, the return of big game outfitting has seen a noticeable increase in the annual sheep harvest by non-resident hunters.

Now, Environment Yukon wants to tighten restrictions in the area for Yukon hunters.

Haney is curious.

He said the minister of Environment has the ability under the Wildlife Act to impose quotas on outfitters. And there was once a policy that automatically triggered an investigation and the possibility of imposing quotas on an outfitter if the average age of their harvested sheep fell below eight years in consecutive years, he noted.

Haney said there’s only one other way to bring about quotas for big game outfitters: make the area a permit zone for Yukon hunters.

Outfitters are automatically put on quotas in areas where Yukoners require permits, he pointed out.

Haney said he’s also wondering about the need to change management strategies in the range of the Hart River caribou herd, given that everything seems to be working just fine right now. If the changes go through, he suspects it will result in more lost opportunity for resident hunters.

Currently, the five subzones along the Dempster Highway are open for caribou until Jan. 31 each season to provide opportunities to hunt the abundant Porcupine River barren land caribou, if and when they show up.

In seasons when they do not show up, the minister can order an emergency closure to protect the much smaller Hart River woodland caribou herd, just as he did this year.

Environment Yukon, the Porcupine Caribou Management Board and the wildlife management board are recommending caribou hunting in the five subzones be closed Oct. 31, so that the hunting season is consistent with caribou seasons in other areas.

Having a standardized season will also reduce the substantial effort required to inform hunters of an emergency closure, the parties maintain.

Under the proposed regulation change, if the Porcupine caribou do show up to that area of the Dempster, the minister can then order the season be re-opened until Jan. 31.

Haney said he suspects it would be like pulling teeth to get the area re-opened for resident hunters once it’s closed, resulting in lost opportunity.

Hunters at that time of year are not looking for trophies, because most of the bulls would have shed their antlers, Haney said. He said they are hunting for food.