I suppose there are a lot of different reasons and purposes for do the things SFW does. Some make sense, some might not, especially if your looking at it without being in the planning meetings when SFW leadership make the decisions they do, to purchase and fund these kinds of things. As someone said in an earlier post, SFW does not own the land in BC or in the North West Territories, they lease it from the Governments of those places for the purpose of hunting and fishing. And, they cannot prevent the Canadian citizens from hunting on the lease, if they want to, they just have the rights to sell and guide hunters that want to purchase their services. If a BC resident wants to pack into to this concession, set up his camp and hunt sheep or what ever, he has every right to do it. So the land remains open to the BC public hunters. There are hundreds of these "hunting concessions" in Canada. You and I can purchase one of them at any time the existing leasee/concessionaire wants to sell his business. There is a real estate company in Canada that specializes in selling these, if your interested in buying one and doing the same thing SFW is doing.
It is:
http://www.mccowans.com/
Look under "Listings" on the top line of the web pages. Pick British Columbia and there a lot of these businesses available for sale right now. Starting at $35,000 and going up to one that just sold for $1,700,000. Buy one, and sell your permits to who ever you want, or donate them to family, friends, business partners or who ever. They are yours to do as you wish.
Regarding the Arctic Red River concession that SFW purchased some years ago, and I don't even know if it was SFW or if it was just some of SFW's leadership that purchased Arctic Red. At any rate, SFW was, and is involved with Arctic Red. Where did the money to purchase it come from. It was donated by an SFW member that wanted to make it available to Wounded Warriors, parents of war heros, conservation donors, auction winners, raffle winners, etc. Four million dollars comes to mind but that may be wrong. Does the donor have any input in the operation? Darned if I know. Don't care if he has complete control or if he just handed SFW 4 big ones and said, "all the best".
I understand it has worked well for the intended purposes. Have SFW members or executive staff been invited to hunt at Arctic Red? I don't know, but they certainly could have. Those permits belong to the concessionaire(SFW) and they are allowed to sell them or give them to whom ever they please. The same as you could do, if you owned the concession.
Now, why did they purchase the recent BC concession?
I don't know all the reasons, nor are they any of my business. However, an executive officer told me a couple of years ago, SFW was considering looking into another concession because a lot of people who win the raffle hunts etc. at the Expo and other events sponsored by SFW, for fund raising purposed, would win the hunt but then could not afford the costs associated with actually going to and from the concession at Arctic Red River. The cost to fly to Yellowknife, North West Territories, the charter plane cost to get from Yellowknife to Norman Wells, then a second charter plane from Norman Wells into the Arctic Red River concession, tips for the guides and cooks, then all the fees associated with flying out the animal, the fees associated with Canadian/NWT exportation, etc, etc. was enormous. So a guy like you or I might win a raffle for a dall sheep hunt by purchasing a $20 raffle ticket, but have to come up with $6000/$7000 to pay for all the other costs associated with getting in an out of the concession. So.................SFW was going to look around and see if they couldn't find another kind of concession, that was located where people that could not afford all the "extra costs" associated with winning a hunt, could drive to, in their own vehicle, or at the very least, face far less expensive air fares, so they wouldn't end up turning the prize back or going into debt, to go on the hunt.
Did SFW make the BC purchase for additional reasons. Don't know. I'll wage they had other logical reasons, like different species were available, not available at Arctic Red, cheaper species like deer, elk, black bear etc. so more than just sheep and caribou hunts can be donated and or sold, operating over head might be less costly, more growth potential, maybe another donor came along, with a different view and wanted to develop his ideas at a different location. Hell, there were probably many reasons they did it, not just the one I was given, years before it happened.
This isn't going to satisfy those that wish to find fault, nor is it intended to. It might provide others a little insight into the reasons for these activities by SFW. It's not likely as sinister as they would have you believe.
If others have more information, maybe they will offer greater insight. Negative speculation is permissible, and anticipated, as it seems to provide some folks such inordinate satisfaction.
DC
