Reconciling wildlife governance in a changing climate: A systematic review of mule deer management in St’át’imc Territory

Abstract

In the wake of intensifying climate events—such as the increasing frequency and severity of wildfires—colonial legislation continues to hinder the advancement of ecological and food systems reconciliation. This paper presents a systematic review of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) management in St’át’imc Territory, a species vital to Indigenous food systems in British Columbia. The goal was to assess the extent to which provincial legislation responds to contemporary climate realities and upholds Indigenous rights. We conducted a deductive legislative review using the BC Laws database in combination with a systematic literature review following PRISMA protocols. Categorization of documents revealed five discrepancies between the legislation and evidence-based priorities in the literature: (1) the absence of climate-adaptive measures in ungulate winter range protections; (2) salvage logging practices that compromise post-wildfire ecological recovery and Indigenous stewardship; (3) hunting regulations that fail to account for Indigenous sustenance needs; (4) insufficient access management in fire-affected landscapes; and (5) the exclusion of Indigenous knowledge systems from legislative processes. Despite British Columbia’s adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) through the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA), existing statutes—such as the Wildlife Act and Forest and Range Practices Act—remain misaligned with its principles. Without substantive reform, the province’s commitments to reconciliation risk remaining symbolic. This review highlights the urgent need to restructure wildlife legislation to support co-governance, uphold Indigenous food sovereignty, and foster climate resilience in the era of mega-wildfires.