How have Raincoast Conservation Foundation and Indigenous nations achieved hunting‑tenure buyouts and what areas do they protect?
Executive summary
Raincoast Conservation Foundation has systematically purchased commercial trophy‑hunting tenures across British Columbia’s central and north coast, working with Indigenous nations to extinguish guide‑outfitter hunting rights and pivot the local economy toward wildlife viewing and ecotourism [1][2][3]. Those acquisitions now cover tens of thousands of square kilometres — including named tenures like Kitlope and Spirit Bear and a recent Southern Great Bear Rainforest tenure — protecting large swaths of the Great Bear Rainforest and adjacent watersheds [1][4][5].
1. How the buyouts are structured and negotiated
Raincoast negotiates voluntary purchases of commercial guide‑outfitting licences — the exclusive right to bring non‑resident hunters into large licence areas — paying outfitters for the tenure and acquiring hunting rights “in perpetuity,” a process funded by targeted fundraising campaigns and partnerships [4][5]. The organization frames the purchases as negotiated and respectful transactions rather than regulatory takings, and says provincial food‑hunting by residents is not prevented by holding these tenures, because the buyouts extinguish commercial trophy guiding rather than subsistence access [6][5].
2. Scale and specific areas protected
Since the early 2000s Raincoast has accumulated multiple tenures that together exceed 38,000 to more than 56,000 square kilometres by various counts, making it the largest hunting‑tenure holder in B.C.; recent campaigns focused on an 18,239 km2 Southern Great Bear Rainforest tenure and earlier purchases included a 5,300 km2 Kitlope tenure and a 3,500 km2 Spirit Bear tenure which encompass Kitlope Nuyem Jees Conservancy, spirit‑bear habitat around Princess Royal Island, and large stretches of the Great Bear Rainforest coast [2][1][7][3][6]. Raincoast describes these areas as including intact coastal temperate rainforest, adjacent watersheds, and habitat for grizzly and black bears, wolves, cougars and Roosevelt elk [1][6].
3. Indigenous partnerships and jurisdictional context
Raincoast emphasizes partnerships with Coastal First Nations and specific nations such as the Haisla, Kitasoo/Xai’xais and Gitga’at, noting joint goals to end trophy hunting and develop nature‑based economies; Coastal First Nations had also declared their own bans or moratoria on grizzly hunting, creating a cultural and political alignment that aided tenure purchases [4][1][8]. The Great Bear Rainforest itself was the subject of a 2016 government recognition and agreements placing large parts under First Nations management, which Raincoast frames as complementary to tenure acquisitions [5].
4. Funding, motivations and economic transition
Raincoast raises specific sums for each tenure — for example $650,000 for Kitlope and about $1.92 million for the Southern Great Bear tenure — arguing that controlling hunting tenures creates room for scientific research and sustainable economic alternatives such as Indigenous‑run ecotourism and wildlife viewing [4][5][2]. The organization’s public rationale is conservation of coastal carnivores and prey species and demonstrating a non‑extractive economic model, while some outfitters and hunting groups point to financial hardship from regulatory changes and criticize the buyout approach [5][3].
5. Conservation outcomes, scientific role and disputes
Raincoast highlights that tenure control facilitates scientific research on coastal carnivores and protection of key habitats, citing collaborations with in‑house scientists and academics to inform management [1]. Independent reporting notes the acquisitions effectively shut down trophy guiding in large areas and are positioned as complementary to provincial grizzly bans, yet outfitters’ associations and hunting organizations have publicly objected, framing the buys as removal of long‑established commercial opportunities and raising questions about long‑term enforcement and the balance between subsistence and commercial user rights [5][6].
6. Bottom line and limits of the record
Taken together the reporting documents a deliberate, largely market‑based strategy by Raincoast to extinguish commercial trophy guiding across massive coastal territories through negotiated purchases, in partnership with many Coastal First Nations, protecting named conservancies and critical habitat in the Great Bear Rainforest and adjacent watersheds; however, publicly available sources emphasize Raincoast’s conservation framing and Indigenous cooperation while also recording industry pushback and do not resolve longer‑term questions about enforcement, provincial policy interactions, or the full economic impacts on outfitters and local communities beyond the organization’s stated ecotourism aims [1][5][3].