PlaceDossier / Questions
Is there a trapline on my property in BC?
Registered traplines and guide outfitter territories cover most of rural BC, and the Province's maps draw them over private land too. A report says whether either takes in the lot, by its number and region, and what each allows there.
The Province maps 2,549 registered traplines and 249 guide outfitter territories; 2,362 traplines and 244 territories reach into the 159 electoral areas below, read 2026-10-07. A report says whether either takes in a rural lot. The places, by name.
The report opens at this answer, with the lot drawn on the map and every other check alongside. A PID (on the tax notice or title) always finds the lot; an address works when it's an exact match.
What the answer means
- Traplines
- A trapline gives its registered holder the right to trap fur-bearing animals in the area, but traplines are registered on Crown land: on titled land the owner or occupier may trap, and anyone else needs their written permission (Wildlife Act ss. 41, 42); trapping on cultivated land without the owner's consent is an offence (s. 39).
- Guiding territories
- A guiding territory lets one guide outfitter take hunters for game in that area. It gives no right in wildlife and doesn't restrict anyone else's right to hunt (Wildlife Act s. 67); hunting over cultivated land needs the owner's consent (s. 39), and the Trespass Act governs who may come onto private land.
- Trespass
- Under the Trespass Act, entering enclosed land without the occupier's consent or other lawful authority is an offence: land inside a lawful fence or a natural boundary, or posted with no-trespassing signs that can be seen from each usual way in. On any land, it's also an offence to come in or carry on an activity after the occupier has said no, in person, in writing or by a sign, or to stay after being told to leave.
- What the maps show
- The trapline map's lines are broad and are drawn over private land too (our reading). The guiding territories are drawn the same way, over whole valleys. Who holds a trapline or territory isn't shown here; the Province's regional Fish and Wildlife office can say who to talk to.
- Who to ask
- The regional Fish and Wildlife office, about the trapline or territory and who holds it; the seller and neighbours, about traps, trails and hunters they've seen; and a lawyer or notary, if a trapper's cabin or trail sits on the lot.
Our summary of the Wildlife Act, ss. 39, 41, 42 and 67, and the Trespass Act, ss. 1, 2 and 4, read on BC Laws 2026-10-07. The Acts have more conditions than these lines say. Confirm with the regional Fish and Wildlife office before you buy or build.
Source: Traplines of British Columbia, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Guide Outfitter Areas, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Wildlife Act, RSBC 1996, c. 488, ss. 39, 41, 42 and 67 (summarised in our words, read 2026-10-07); Trespass Act, RSBC 2018, c. 3, ss. 1, 2 and 4 (summarised in our words, read 2026-10-07).
By place
The registered traplines and guide outfitter territories on the Province's maps in 159 electoral areas, listed by name: how many reach into each and how much of its land they take in.
From Traplines of British Columbia and Guide Outfitter Areas, Province of BC, read 2026-10-07. Areas are measured by us on the 2021 census boundaries; an area reaching into several places is counted in each. The maps are drawn over titled land too, though a trapline gives no right to trap on titled land without the owner's or occupier's written permission, and a guiding territory gives no right in wildlife. Who holds each isn't shown here.
See also open range and grazing, logging and Crown land use near a property and property lines.
Buying rural land? Before you buy rural land in BC: the nine questions that decide an offer, on one printable page.