The reluctance of some hunters to accept the ban on lead shot that is now being phased in comes as no surprise. It reminds us of the resistance displayed by some trappers to the phasing out of leg-hold traps.

Lost in some of the debate, however, is the fact that Northerners, by and large, have been among the first to adopt new technologies and techniques. Many of us may be conservative by nature, but when it comes to the tools that sustain a way of life -- if not life itself -- commons sense is no stranger in these parts.

On the trapping issues, for example, the NWT government has been encouraging the switch from the leg-hold trap, which can be a cruel way for an animal to die and dangerous for a trapper to set, to the quick-kill trap, which is neither.

By some reports, Northerners have accepted the new traps faster than other parts of the country.

Lead shot enjoys the same advantages of the leg-hold trap: it's been around for so long, everyone is used to it. And there are a few who resist all forms of change, regardless of the details.

But the undeniable fact is lead is a toxic element the poisons wildlife. Shooting tonnes of it into the air every year, hunters have been poisoning birds, fish and other animals for decades. We may like lead shot's cheap price, but the economic advantage hardly outweights the ecological disadvantages.

Those Northerners who have already made the transition to the modern, efficient and safe tools of hunting and trapping -- and there are many of them -- can take pride in their ability to recognize the need for progress, even when the source of the change comes from far from home.

After all, as the European fur boycott of the 1970s and 80s proved, the only alternative is an end to those traditions that have sustained countless thousands for generations.

We can put an unmanned space probe on Mars and send signals carrying pictures and words from that planet to Earth in seconds, but we still haven't conquered Mother Nature, especially here in the North.

Now mom Nature can be brutal at times, freezing us and blowing us around. She can even seal up our waters -- taking away the only economic means of re-supplying our more isolated communities.

Although Canadian Coast Guard-co-ordinated sea lifts have not missed re-supplying a community for 20 years, other sealifts have, leaving entire communities with dwindling food stock and supplies when they need them most -- in the winter.

But, while we can't control the weather, we can control prices. Thankfully at least some sealifts have been getting cheaper over the last seven years.