NSMA wants wolf harvesting pause, questioning program’s impact

The North Slave Métis Alliance says a Tłı̨chǫ Government proposal to extend a wolf harvesting program is being handled inappropriately by the regulator and may not be helping caribou.

The regulator, the Wek’éezhìi Renewable Resources Board, says it is following the rules.

The Tłı̨chǫ Government says its program is part of “doing everything that we can to try to help the herds recover” – caribou numbers in the region are down significantly – and only a minor extension is being sought.

Whether a broader wolf management plan from 2019 to 2024 was successful is still being evaluated. A report is being prepared.

In a letter filed with the renewable resources board this month, NSMA said any wolf harvesting extension should be paused until that report comes out.

“We are concerned that the program is not an effective approach to supporting the recovery of the Bluenose-East and Bathurst caribou. Our members have reported that wolf populations in the barren grounds remain high, indicating that the program is not effectively reducing the wolf population,” NSMA environment manager Noah Johnson wrote.

“Additionally, we believe that the program may even be increasing pressure from wolves on the Bluenose-East and Bathurst caribou, as wolves from neighbouring areas take advantage of the program’s disruptions to existing packs to encroach on their territory.”

The 2019-24 program was a joint initiative between the NWT and Tłı̨chǫ governments.

Since then, in early 2025 and again in its latest proposal for 2026, the Tłı̨chǫ Government has looked to keep some version of the harvesting program going.

Over the past six years, 126 wolves are reported by TG to have been killed through the program – the intent being to disrupt their negative impact on caribou herd size, but also to serve a cultural purpose.

The program “provides a key opportunity for Tłı̨chǫ to develop dıga ̀hunting and trapping skills and teach younger harvesters,” TG wrote in a submission to the regulator, using the Tłı̨chǫ word for wolf.

The 2026 harvesting plan focuses on Mackay Lake. Teams of three to four people will track and attempt to shoot wolves over periods of seven to 10 days, the application stated.

Query over consultation

This is the second year in which NSMA has raised concerns about not only the program, but the way in which the Wek’éezhìi Renewable Resources Board handles this sort of application.

Johnson, writing on NSMA’s behalf to the board, said WRRB does not allow enough time for comment and does not do enough to ensure consultation occurs.

“Since 2019, NSMA has consistently expressed opposition to wolf culls as a caribou management mechanism,” he wrote to the board.

“Despite your knowledge of our position, you approved the program for 2025 despite no consultation having occurred with NSMA and after allowing only one week for public comments, of which you did not notify NSMA.

“Similarly, you have not formally notified NSMA of the current proposal to extend the program and have not made any effort to confirm whether any efforts have been made to consult with NSMA. The WRRB must do more than merely inviting public comments when it considers proposals that may adversely affect NSMA’s members’ Métis rights.”

WRRB executive director Jody Pellissey told Cabin Radio the board follows established rules that require a comment period lasting at least one week. In this case, she said, that period was two working weeks (comment opened on December 1 and closed on December 12).

Pellissey said anyone can sign up for email notifications about new proposals being published for comment.

“The North Slave Métis Alliance had an opportunity to comment back in January,” she said, taking the last wolf harvesting application as an example. “If they missed the notification, we’ve done our due diligence in ensuring that it’s posted and it has the opportunity for comment.”

She characterized the latest wolf harvesting application as a “minor amendment” and said the regulatory board will consider both the application and NSMA’s letter this week before issuing a decision.

TG ‘happy’ to discuss program

One request NSMA makes in its letter is for the board to direct the Tłı̨chǫ Government to directly engage with NSMA about the wolf harvesting plan.

Pellissey said the regulatory rules do not include any requirement for TG to do so.

“It wouldn’t be bad if one Indigenous government spoke with another Indigenous government, but it is not something the board can ‘make’ them do,” she said.

Brett Wheler, who submitted the wolf harvesting application as the Tłı̨chǫ Government’s acting director of lands regulation and protection, said TG would agree to discuss the program with NSMA.

“The best way to succeed is for everyone to work together,” Wheler told Cabin Radio.

“Certainly, if NSMA wants to meet with us, we can definitely arrange that. We’ll be happy to do that.”

Regarding NSMA’s request that wolf harvesting be placed on hold while the 2019-24 report is compiled, Wheler said: “We definitely believe the program is worth continuing in the meantime, based on our consultant biologists and our in-house biologists and our Elders and harvesters’ input.

“The program small but important. If we stop harvesting the wolves then, since wolves have a pretty high reproductive rate, we risk more wolves being on the landscape and consuming caribou.”