Activists protest B.C. wolf hunt

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Environmental activist Paul Watson says he will lead a group into the Flathead Valley in southeast British Columbia next month to obstruct wolf hunting, following a provincial decision to lift hunting restrictions. “Basically, they (government officials) are kow-towing to hunting demands,” said Watson, who heads a group called Friends of the Wolf. Watson and Friends of the Wolf tried to disrupt an organized government wolf-kill program in northern British Columbia two years ago. He predicted the decision to lift hunting restictions in the Flathead Valley would trigger protests from both sides of the Canada-U.S. border. “There is going to be quite a strong protest from the U.S. side,” he said. “A tourist boycott is about the only real options groups like Project Wolf and Earth First have.” Deputy Environment Minister Tom Johnson said the government wants to maintain the balance between wolves and moose, elk and other ungulates.