I was impressed with your recent article regarding the killing of grizzly bears ["Hunting grizzly bears", June 26–July 3]. Thankfully, part of the media is concerned about this issue. I have written to the Ministry of Environment on this item earlier this year, but even after talking to my MLA I have not been able to get a response.

One of my questions was why is the government in favour of this killing? Is it because of close ties with the hunting lobby? It seems like the Liberal policy with regard to the environment is "kill it and pave it."

> Murray P. Brown / Richmond

Congratulations on your story about grizzly hunting. What a tragedy it is that so many bears continue to die simply to save Premier Gordon Campbell's face. If he hadn't reversed the moratorium seven years ago—based on nothing more than a knee-jerk political whim—grizzly hunting in this province would be long-ago history. But thanks to his inability to say he made a mistake, it goes on, and the province is a sadder, poorer place because of it.

> Nicholas Read / Vancouver

I read your recent article "Hunting grizzly bears". I have been on grizzly tours. They are magnificent creatures; we must stop killing them. The only thing they should be shot with is a camera—at a fair distance.

> Susan McLoughlin / Sidney, B.C.

Grizzly bears are majestic, symbolic creatures, representative of what some may consider the best of Canada and, more specifically, British Columbia. Whether or not hunting poses a threat to the stability of the grizzly-bear population, it is heartbreaking that they are targets for hunters and are killed in this manner. Although all hunting of grizzly bears is objectionable, killing the bears simply for sport is all the more indefensible. It is unjust, unnecessary, and wasteful to kill a bear purely for the enjoyment of an individual or group.

Given the ambiguity in the estimated populations of a species, there is wisdom in Chuck Schwartz's advice to "always err on the conservative side." The grizzly bear is threatened by many factors in addition to hunting, including loss of habitat due to logging and settlement. A government ban on the grizzly-bear hunt would make ecological sense, as it would remove a needless threat that results in the direct loss of bears. It is also one of the simplest ways to protect the grizzly bear. Grizzly bears should be treated with the respect that they deserve and, in future, "hunted" only with cameras.

> Carita Chan / Vancouver Humane Society