The subject of wildlife both unites and deeply divides British Columbians. From concern over dwindling orca populations to deeply political debates over hunting and harvesting, questions surrounding fish and wildlife harvest rights and methods, and the effects of industrial resource extraction, tourism, and residential development upon wildlife populations, have produced an atmosphere of conflict and distrust in BC.

Spanning the deep history of human relationships with wildlife, from pre-contact Indigenous land stewardship to the present day, Stewards of Splendour explores the ways that government, Indigenous communities and stakeholder groups have sought to shape and deliver, or responded to the consequences of, wildlife management policies and practices and resource development activities in the province.

Throughout, it emphasizes the circumstances and initiatives that made and continue to make BC different—from the astonishing diversity of our ecosystems to our unusually high proportion (over 94%) of public land—while profiling instances of “made-in-BC” approaches.

Drawing upon a rich body of historical, scientific and policy-related literature and over 80 interviews, Stewards of Splendour examines changing societal values around wildlife and the implications of these changes for wildlife managers today.

Jennifer Bonnell is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in the Department of History at the University of Guelph.

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