A no shooting area on Texada Island has been extended. In August, a ministerial order amended the Texada Junction closure to include the subdivision in the vicinity of Sienna Road.
Residents of this subdivision, represented by Texada Safety and Police Advisory Committee, approached local conservation officers two years ago asking what could be done to provide them with a higher level of safety, said Conservation Officer Gerry Lister. One issue of concern was that the natural gas pipeline, which borders most of the subdivision to the west and south, is a natural travel and feeding route for deer. Several residences lie in close proximity to the pipeline, but cannot be seen from Bell Road, which borders the subdivision on the north. “Over the years, residents have experienced not only armed hunters in their driveways, but also gunshots being fired along the pipeline, immediately adjacent to their residences and outbuildings,” Lister said.
All residents in the subdivision were in support of extending the no shooting area to encompass the subdivision and Lister worked with the safety committee to determine the boundaries. “The goal was to provide protection to the residents, yet at the same time create easily identifiable boundaries, and not restrict an area that was larger than required to accomplish the main objective of public safety,” he said.
Prior to the amendment, there was a 400-metre no shooting area on both sides of Bell, east of Texada Junction, for a distance of two kilometres. “This closure remains unchanged, and the extension continues along Bell Road but is reduced to a 200-metre corridor,” said Lister. “On the north side of Bell Road this corridor ends at its intersection with Branch 03 and Branch 04 of the Texada Forest Service Road. On the south side of Bell Road the corridor expands and then parallels the natural gas pipeline at a distance of 100 metres to the west and south, until the pipeline intersects Branch 03 of the Texada Forest Service Road. The no shooting boundary then follows the middle of Branch 03 back to the intersection with Branch 04 and Bell Road.”
Signs have been posted to assist hunters in determining the new boundaries of this no shooting area extension. The ministry of forests, lands and natural resource operations’ website and the online Hunting and Trapping Synopsis are being updated to reflect the changes.
No shooting areas are not intended to eliminate opportunities to hunt, but are intended to enhance public safety in areas of concern, Lister said. “No shooting areas are closed to the discharge of all firearms, regardless of the calibre or ammunition being used,” he said. “Hunters may still hunt with archery equipment in these areas, except on fenced or posted property, or within the road allowance of a highway (as defined in the Closed Area regulations), or within 100 metres of any church, school or schoolyard, playground, regional district park, residence or occupied outbuildings.”
