National parks now killing not conserving grizzlies
Tourism, commercial development chief culprits
by Jill Seaton, a concerned Jasper resident
You might think Parks Canada's mandate to protect ecological integrity and leave the national parks for future generations of Canadians would make Banff, Waterton Lakes and Jasper National Parks havens for the grizzly bears. Well, think again.
These parks, at 18,024 square kilometres combined, are home to about 150 to 180 grizzly bears. The grizzlies inhabit the montane ecosystem of the valley bottoms during the spring and fall. While some of the old threats to park grizzlies such as garbage feeding have decreased over the years, the animals now face new obstacles from increased tourism in the parks and commercial development on the parks' borders.
Too much tourism
Parks Canada favors increased tourism, particularly during the spring and fall when the bears are most vulnerable. The behavior of some tourists when they see a bear is nothing short of remarkable. They disgorge from cars and tour buses -- disregarding all warning signs on the roads -- and rush towards the animal with their cameras. The bear either seeks the safety of the trees, its feeding disturbed, or else stands its ground and becomes a threat, risking relocation or death. If tourism increases, Parks Canada must increase staff to deal with these problems.
Too much development
Commercial development is the other threat. Alberta and B.C. don't manage lands next to the mountain parks with grizzly preservation in mind. Bears have no respect for park boundaries and travel widely in search of suitable foods. But much of British Columbia's Crown land is slated for logging. Development on Alberta's Crown land also exposes grizzlies to threats from logging, coal-mining, uncontrolled all-terrain vehicle use and poachers.
Development within parks is another issue. The transportation corridors between B.C. and Alberta divide important grizzly habitat in Banff and Jasper parks. Municipal growth in Banff, combined with proposed facilities expansion in Waterton Lakes and Jasper, will reduce the montane habitats where grizzlies live.
Unless Parks Canada and the adjoining provinces commit to save the grizzly and its habitat, the bear will gradually disappear from the parks. The great tracks in the spring snow and along the river mud flats will be gone and with them something vital to our national identity -- something that cannot be retrieved.
