any one esle read this letter about Ab Guides Outfitters geating Grizzle Tags ?
- Thread starter bbobie
- Start date
IronNoggin
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Port Alberni, Vancouver Island
Alberta to put humans ahead of grizzlies
The Government of Alberta is implementing new measures to reduce the number of grizzly bears intruding on rural properties, hurting people and damaging crops.The “problem wildlife management” strategy will be a last resort after existing human-wildlife conflict tools have already been used in attempts to deter the bears, Minister of Forestry and Parks Todd Loewen’s Press Secretary Pam Davidson told the Western Standard.
Eligible Albertans after submitting an application will be chosen at random from a shortlist to be in charge of tracking and killing bears that have been causing problems in civilization.
In the event of “livestock being killed, crops being damaged, or public safety issues becoming too frequent, candidates will be contacted by government staff and “may be engaged to track and euthanize a problem bear, or manage a problem elk herd, when it is determined to be appropriate.”
The fee for the program hasn't been disclosed.
There are between 1,000 and 1,150 grizzlies in the province.
The program “allows Albertans to apply online to be put on a shortlist to become problem wildlife responders to assist Fish and Wildlife staff with problem wildlife management in Alberta,” said Davidson.
“This new management tool will see eligible Albertans, who have been chosen to participate in the program, contacted by wildlife officers to respond when there is a public safety concern, livestock are being killed, crops are being damaged, or other concerns.”
Those interested in signing up to be a designated responder submit their application and wait to be shortlisted to participate. If so, they will be “contacted by government staff and will be engaged to pursue and harvest problem wildlife involved in serious conflicts when it is determined to be appropriate by government staff.”
From 2000 to 2021, there have been a total of 104 grizzly bear maulings. In the last three years alone, four Albertans have been killed by grizzly bears. In 2020, there were three grizzly bear maulings and in 2021 there were seven grizzly maulings and two black bear maulings.
In addition to the physical threat from wayward bears, agriculture producers in Alberta lose millions of dollars each year to livestock losses from predatory grizzly bears and elk damage to crops.
Farmers and agricultural producers “experiencing negative wildlife interactions” will be able to reach out to provincial staff to get help from wildlife management responders.
“Actions taken by responders will align with all existing policies related to wildlife management, will provide quicker response times, reduce claims for lost livestock, crops and property, and most importantly increase safety for rural Albertans,” said Davidson.
The Alberta’s government’s “multi-pronged approach” is designed to “solve the issue of problem and dangerous wildlife.”
Public safety and property protection are our highest priority, and we are focused on reducing negative human-wildlife interactions and promote coexistence with wildlife,” the statement reads.
As for destructive elk populations, the government plans to increase habitat space “in areas further from human activity to make wildlife less prone to visiting populated areas,” Davidson said in a subsequent statement over email.
The Forestry and Parks department plans to offer ongoing public education initiatives and aversion programs to make Albertans aware of human-wildlife conflicts and reduce wildlife-related dangers. “Habitat enhancements,” such as forest management techniques like wildfire risk reduction are further tools to reduce conflicts between wildlife and humans.
In recent years, grizzly bear population recovery has been successful, but the influx of grizzlies has posed risks to humans and farmland. “As Alberta’s grizzly bear populations continue to grow in numbers and expand their territory, human-grizzly conflicts have increased in both severity and frequency. Recent conflicts have been predatory in nature and have not been related to the protection of cubs or food sources,” said Davidson.
“Alberta’s elk population has also grown in numbers and distribution causing enormous damage to agriculture crops.”
https://www.westernstandard.news/ne...w-albertans-to-euthanize-problem-bruins/55867
- Location
- WMU247 near Edmonton
well the Suffield Elk herd is huge
This is similar to how nuisance animals are trapped
This is similar to how nuisance animals are trapped
IronNoggin
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Port Alberni, Vancouver Island
The Suffield Elk Herd USED to be huge.
It is now tattered remnants of what it once was.
Due to heavy lobbying by the Cattleman's Association, the province literally nuked them.
First let FN only hunts proceed (big numbers).
Then due to pushback from non-FN's, Limited Entry tags were assigned.
Again large numbers.
Near a decade of this has reduced the herd by well over 3/4's and is still going on.
Hunted it a few times myself.
Won't bother any more due to the low numbers and super spooky elk at this point.
Just sayin'...
Dorian Gray
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Why not just open a season for them with limited tag numbers? I could be wrong, but this seems to be pandering to the non-hunters by saying "Look, We're only after the ones that #### with humans, elk and property."
An LEH type of hunt with say, 50-100 tags issued per year, in select management units with high human/elk to bear interaction, would likely be sustainable and deal with the problem and generate revenue for people as well. Just my thinking anyway. Could be well off base.
An LEH type of hunt with say, 50-100 tags issued per year, in select management units with high human/elk to bear interaction, would likely be sustainable and deal with the problem and generate revenue for people as well. Just my thinking anyway. Could be well off base.
I also think this is the way it should be managed
- Location
- AB foothills
Nice too see something heading in the right direction at the very least.
Wrong the way treaty people were allowed to go in there first like that . Wrong way to manage it. But elk would stay off private land during legal hunting hours and then rampage out and pilliage private land the rest of the time. People have to be able to make a living. You can't have huge herds on private land like that. Be like me dumping my cows in town to roam free to eat your grass and vegetable gardens
I wonder if the average joe will be able to participate in this grizzly hunting in Alberta again or if just special folks and outfitters etc. Only get to play. You know, a regular draw process and some tags in each zone? And will landowners be able to dispatch Iike they can with black bears, coyotes, wolves, or any other pest?
It's not really hunting in the traditional sense, its more a legal term, per what the minister said. What they are doing is setting up a group of vetted hunters who can go dispatch a problem bear when the need arises. Takes pressure off the under staffed wardens.
Thomas D'Arcy McGee
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Certain 'problem' grizzly bears can now be hunted in Alberta
Helen Pike, Joel Dryden · CBC News · Posted: Jul 09, 2024 7:12 PM EDT | Last Updated: July 10
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-todd-loewen-grizzly-bears-fish-and-wildlife-1.7258821
The Alberta government will permit selective grizzly bear hunts should they meet certain criteria, raising concerns from environmentalists who worry about the impacts on a threatened species.
Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Loewen made the change as part of a June 17 ministerial order. Under the order, the minister may issue what the province refers to as a "grizzly bear management authorization" for the purpose of hunting a grizzly.
"This is an overall management strategy for problem wildlife in particular, to make sure that we can respond to rural Albertans, both their concerns of safety but also loss of crop and loss of livestock," Loewen told CBC News.
The provincial government said there has been a rise in reports of "problematic" and dangerous grizzly-human and grizzly-animal interactions. Some recent conflicts, the province suggests, have been predatory in nature.
In 2020, there were three attacks, while 2021 recorded nine attacks by black and grizzly bears. The province said there were 104 attacks from 2000 to 2021.
The ministerial order states that authorizations can be issued if a grizzly has been involved in a human-bear conflict situation, or if the bear is located in an "area of concern." The bear must not be accompanied by a cub.
Sport hunting of grizzly bears in Alberta ended in 2006, and grizzlies were listed as a threatened species by the province in 2010, when the provincial population estimate was between 700 and 800.
In 2021, efforts to help the Alberta grizzly population recover were credited as the number of bears increased to somewhere between 856 and 973. Today, the province estimates more than 1,150 grizzly bears live in Alberta.
It took a strong effort from biologists to get the grizzly bear hunt suspended in the first place, said Devon Earl, a conservation specialist with the Alberta Wilderness Association.
The worry is that bringing back a hunt, even in a limited capacity, could stifle what has been a successful recovery to this point.
"The risk is that we increase mortality of grizzly bears, and that we undo all of the recovery of the past couple of decades, because we have seen grizzly bear populations recovering in certain areas," Earl said.
"And that doesn't mean that it's time to start up a grizzly bear hunt. It just means that some positive progress has been made. And we don't want to undo that."
Application process to use lottery system
Environmental groups are calling the move, in effect, a reintroduction of grizzly hunting in Alberta. But Loewen views it differently.
The program, he said, is a wildlife management tool that will create a pool of Alberta residents to act as "public wildlife management responders."
"A hunt normally would allow the hunter to choose what, where and when they hunt," Loewen said. "But the … problem wildlife responder will not have any choice of what, where and when they hunt. They'll be told exactly the details of all those."
He said this amendment was put forward to specifically deal with problem wildlife, while the word "hunt" in the Alberta Wildlife Act has a legal meaning in legislation.
"If we were to call this a 'hunt,' then we would have to be considering that the work that Fish and Wildlife officers have been doing in the last 20 years has also been hunting, which they're not," Loewen said. "They're taking care of problem wildlife."
The province said wildlife management responders will also be deployed in instances where agricultural losses occur due to elk foraging.
Loewen said an online application process will be used to get on the short-list for the program, and information on how to apply will be released in the coming days. He said there would be a maximum of 15 bears involved in the program each year.
"The application process will be chosen, basically, similar to a lottery or a draw. I won't have any opportunity to interfere with any of that," Loewen said.
arah Elmeligi, Alberta NDP critic for environment and tourism, wrote in a statement that killing grizzly bears does not reduce human-bear conflict.
"Human use management on the landscape — like the livestock compensation program, subsidies for electric fencing, attractant management on public and private land, and better education — are the things that actually reduce conflict," Elmeligi wrote in a statement.
"These programs should be amplified across the province to reduce conflict at its source."
Environmental groups concerned
Groups like the Alberta Wilderness Association and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) have concerns with the changes and with what they view as a lack of consultation.
"If we're going to be making these large changes to a management of species at risk, there should be more consultation," said CPAWS northern Alberta chapter director Tara Russell.
Russell said she found the legislation vague, adding it left her with questions about what requirements exist to label a bear a problem. Russell said she also wanted more information around what defined an "area of concern."
Though the government is referring to the change as a wildlife management tool, the wildlife advocate said she viewed it as a hunt.
"I'm calling it a 'hunt' because the piece of legislation that we saw go through the Alberta Gazette on the Friday of the long weekend is also calling it hunting," Russell said.
"Introducing a hunt … to me and CPAWS, is wildly inappropriate. We shouldn't be applying hunting measures to a species at risk."
While populations in many bear management areas have stabilized and in some cases increased, grizzly bears are still listed as a threatened species, she said.
She said there is a recognition in the province's Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan that as populations recover, population management is needed. But there's also an emphasis on coexistence.
That's what's missing here, she said.
"I do think that prioritizing the conservation of grizzly bear habitat has been the biggest step that's been overlooked," Russell said.
Earl, the conservation specialist with the Alberta Wilderness Association, said bears that need to be euthanized to protect public safety should be dealt with by the appropriate wildlife officials.
"Somebody who is a professional and trained to deal with these circumstances. I don't think it makes sense to bring in somebody to hunt that bear if it's posing an imminent safety risk," Earl said.
Others welcome development
The news was well-received by some who have grappled with grizzlies straying onto their properties, including Win Niebler, a livestock handler and ranch operator outside of Calgary.
"I'm very proud of knowing that there [are] apex predators around my property. The only issue is now, of course, to find that fine balance between making a living with livestock and having those apex predators around, possibly endangering the livestock and families and their livelihoods," Niebler said.
Robert Boos, chair of the Alberta Elk Commission, which represents Alberta's elk farming industry, said livestock businesses that routinely lose their stock to a repeat predator find themselves in very challenging situations.
"Having a harvesting situation is a very good management tool," Boos said.
He said it's important that any individual brought to provide assistance through the new program adhere to strict practices.
"Those people that would be coming onto the farm would have to follow those management practices to a tee," Boos said.
In addition to the new wildlife management responders, the province said it would continue to fund educational initiatives intended to prevent human-wildlife conflict, such as the Community Bear Smart Grant program.
Those selected to participate in the new program will be directed to track and respond to grizzlies and other problem wildlife, the province said.
"This action will occur after a problem animal has been reported to wildlife enforcement officers and determined to be a risk to life, livestock or property," reads a release from the province.
Helen Pike, Joel Dryden · CBC News · Posted: Jul 09, 2024 7:12 PM EDT | Last Updated: July 10
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-todd-loewen-grizzly-bears-fish-and-wildlife-1.7258821
The Alberta government will permit selective grizzly bear hunts should they meet certain criteria, raising concerns from environmentalists who worry about the impacts on a threatened species.
Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Loewen made the change as part of a June 17 ministerial order. Under the order, the minister may issue what the province refers to as a "grizzly bear management authorization" for the purpose of hunting a grizzly.
"This is an overall management strategy for problem wildlife in particular, to make sure that we can respond to rural Albertans, both their concerns of safety but also loss of crop and loss of livestock," Loewen told CBC News.
The provincial government said there has been a rise in reports of "problematic" and dangerous grizzly-human and grizzly-animal interactions. Some recent conflicts, the province suggests, have been predatory in nature.
In 2020, there were three attacks, while 2021 recorded nine attacks by black and grizzly bears. The province said there were 104 attacks from 2000 to 2021.
The ministerial order states that authorizations can be issued if a grizzly has been involved in a human-bear conflict situation, or if the bear is located in an "area of concern." The bear must not be accompanied by a cub.
Sport hunting of grizzly bears in Alberta ended in 2006, and grizzlies were listed as a threatened species by the province in 2010, when the provincial population estimate was between 700 and 800.
In 2021, efforts to help the Alberta grizzly population recover were credited as the number of bears increased to somewhere between 856 and 973. Today, the province estimates more than 1,150 grizzly bears live in Alberta.
It took a strong effort from biologists to get the grizzly bear hunt suspended in the first place, said Devon Earl, a conservation specialist with the Alberta Wilderness Association.
The worry is that bringing back a hunt, even in a limited capacity, could stifle what has been a successful recovery to this point.
"The risk is that we increase mortality of grizzly bears, and that we undo all of the recovery of the past couple of decades, because we have seen grizzly bear populations recovering in certain areas," Earl said.
"And that doesn't mean that it's time to start up a grizzly bear hunt. It just means that some positive progress has been made. And we don't want to undo that."
Application process to use lottery system
Environmental groups are calling the move, in effect, a reintroduction of grizzly hunting in Alberta. But Loewen views it differently.
The program, he said, is a wildlife management tool that will create a pool of Alberta residents to act as "public wildlife management responders."
"A hunt normally would allow the hunter to choose what, where and when they hunt," Loewen said. "But the … problem wildlife responder will not have any choice of what, where and when they hunt. They'll be told exactly the details of all those."
He said this amendment was put forward to specifically deal with problem wildlife, while the word "hunt" in the Alberta Wildlife Act has a legal meaning in legislation.
"If we were to call this a 'hunt,' then we would have to be considering that the work that Fish and Wildlife officers have been doing in the last 20 years has also been hunting, which they're not," Loewen said. "They're taking care of problem wildlife."
The province said wildlife management responders will also be deployed in instances where agricultural losses occur due to elk foraging.
Loewen said an online application process will be used to get on the short-list for the program, and information on how to apply will be released in the coming days. He said there would be a maximum of 15 bears involved in the program each year.
"The application process will be chosen, basically, similar to a lottery or a draw. I won't have any opportunity to interfere with any of that," Loewen said.
arah Elmeligi, Alberta NDP critic for environment and tourism, wrote in a statement that killing grizzly bears does not reduce human-bear conflict.
"Human use management on the landscape — like the livestock compensation program, subsidies for electric fencing, attractant management on public and private land, and better education — are the things that actually reduce conflict," Elmeligi wrote in a statement.
"These programs should be amplified across the province to reduce conflict at its source."
Environmental groups concerned
Groups like the Alberta Wilderness Association and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) have concerns with the changes and with what they view as a lack of consultation.
"If we're going to be making these large changes to a management of species at risk, there should be more consultation," said CPAWS northern Alberta chapter director Tara Russell.
Russell said she found the legislation vague, adding it left her with questions about what requirements exist to label a bear a problem. Russell said she also wanted more information around what defined an "area of concern."
Though the government is referring to the change as a wildlife management tool, the wildlife advocate said she viewed it as a hunt.
"I'm calling it a 'hunt' because the piece of legislation that we saw go through the Alberta Gazette on the Friday of the long weekend is also calling it hunting," Russell said.
"Introducing a hunt … to me and CPAWS, is wildly inappropriate. We shouldn't be applying hunting measures to a species at risk."
While populations in many bear management areas have stabilized and in some cases increased, grizzly bears are still listed as a threatened species, she said.
She said there is a recognition in the province's Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan that as populations recover, population management is needed. But there's also an emphasis on coexistence.
That's what's missing here, she said.
"I do think that prioritizing the conservation of grizzly bear habitat has been the biggest step that's been overlooked," Russell said.
Earl, the conservation specialist with the Alberta Wilderness Association, said bears that need to be euthanized to protect public safety should be dealt with by the appropriate wildlife officials.
"Somebody who is a professional and trained to deal with these circumstances. I don't think it makes sense to bring in somebody to hunt that bear if it's posing an imminent safety risk," Earl said.
Others welcome development
The news was well-received by some who have grappled with grizzlies straying onto their properties, including Win Niebler, a livestock handler and ranch operator outside of Calgary.
"I'm very proud of knowing that there [are] apex predators around my property. The only issue is now, of course, to find that fine balance between making a living with livestock and having those apex predators around, possibly endangering the livestock and families and their livelihoods," Niebler said.
Robert Boos, chair of the Alberta Elk Commission, which represents Alberta's elk farming industry, said livestock businesses that routinely lose their stock to a repeat predator find themselves in very challenging situations.
"Having a harvesting situation is a very good management tool," Boos said.
He said it's important that any individual brought to provide assistance through the new program adhere to strict practices.
"Those people that would be coming onto the farm would have to follow those management practices to a tee," Boos said.
In addition to the new wildlife management responders, the province said it would continue to fund educational initiatives intended to prevent human-wildlife conflict, such as the Community Bear Smart Grant program.
Those selected to participate in the new program will be directed to track and respond to grizzlies and other problem wildlife, the province said.
"This action will occur after a problem animal has been reported to wildlife enforcement officers and determined to be a risk to life, livestock or property," reads a release from the province.
well hopefully they hold at least 1 tag per unit in a random draw so the average Joe can apply and have a chance each year, we have more than enough numbers to support that, but also keep this other thing they are doing to deal with problem bears....which is about time and awesome, but give a tag a zone everyone can put in for, and not just once in a lifetime like the goat, every year
