Alberta has launched a grizzly bear hunt, the province said in a news release yesterday.
But don’t worry, the same government also said in the same news release, “this is not a bear hunt.”
It’s “a measure to ensure the safety of humans and livestock.”
Well, as I’ve been saying for years, I’ve never raised cattle, but I was the agriculture reporter for The Calgary Herald long enough to recognize the smell of BS when I catch a whiff on the wind.
Now, you may have thought that grizzly bears were endangered – although, technically, I guess, we have to say that they’re merely “threatened” (Alberta) or “a species of special concern” (Ottawa). There are thought to be about 1,000 of the majestic but scary creatures left in the province – Alberta boosts that number by about 100 in its release. Roughly 180 of them are safely inside Alberta’s federally run national parks. (Cue the Sovereignty Act!)
Last month, Alberta’s United Conservative Party Government used a ministerial order to very quietly change the regulations to the Wildlife Act to permit “problem bears” to be hunted once again, something that hasn’t been allowed in this province for 20 years. All that is required now is there be “an area of concern.”
Now, according to yesterday’s news release, “to protect Alberta families and communities, visitors, and agricultural producers, Alberta’s government is taking action on problem grizzlies responsible for the increasing number of negative interactions.”
While there in fact remain very few negative interactions, what form do you think that action is going to take?
According to the presser: “Alberta’s government is creating a new network of wildlife management responders to help stop dangerous and deadly grizzly bear attacks on people and livestock. When a problem animal like a grizzly or elk is identified, members of the approved network will help provide rapid conflict response times across all regions of Alberta. This response could include tracking and euthanizing a problem animal, while still following all rules and regulations already in place.” (As you can see from this, elk are also in the crosshairs.)
When dealing Orwellian statements by the United Conservative Party government, in which obvious truths and their opposite are often reversed, a short glossary may be helpful:
- Negative interactions: Bears being bears
- Wildlife management responders: Hunters
- Members of the approved network: Hunters known and liked by the UCP
- Rapid conflict response: Hunters with 4X4s
- Tracking: Hunting
- Euthanizing: Shooting to death
- All rules and regulations: “Red tape,” soon to be removed by the minister of red tape reduction
“We are taking a proactive approach to help Albertans co-exist with wildlife through our new wildlife management program,” said Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Loewen, a part owner of a hunting guide outfitting company. “These changes demonstrate our commitment to ensuring Albertans can safely work and recreate throughout the province.”
“Losses suffered due to predation can be a significant blow to ranchers and farmers,” said Agriculture Minister RJ Sigurdson in his canned quote, coming a bit closer to what this is actually about. “This new program will reduce the number of losses, protect farms, and help producers avoid conflicts with wildlife.”
Environmentalists, naturalists, and conservationists were appalled at what sure sounds like an effort to dress up trophy hunting for friends of the government as a public service.
“If a bear threatens human safety, appropriate actions must be taken by professionals, not trophy hunters,’ the Alberta Wilderness Association said in a news release. “Although there are cases where bears may have to be euthanized, this should be a last resort that is only used when a bear poses an imminent safety risk.”
“Hunting is not an acceptable management approach for a threatened species,” said Devon Earl, a conservation specialist with the association.
“This seems like a short-sighted decision intended to appease Minister Loewen’s ties to the Guide-Outfitting and Trophy Hunting industries and lacks any public integrity,” said John Marriott, wildlife photographer and co-founder of the Exposed Wildlife Conservancy, in the same statement. “Why wasn’t the public consulted on this? Why weren’t grizzly bear researchers involved in this decision?” (One reason may be that the province’s only specialist in human wildlife conflicts retired in 2022 and hasn’t been replaced.)
“The science on grizzly bears very clearly does not show a beneficial link between hunting and conflict resolution,” Mr. Marriott said. He added, probably answering his own question: “So why are we risking grizzly bear recovery for a few hunters to have trophy rugs on their walls?”
“Killing grizzly bears does not reduce human-bear conflict,” agreed Opposition Environment Critic Sarah Elmeligi, who unlike Mr. Loewen is a PhD grizzly bear biologist. “We know from scientific research that the best way to reduce conflict is to work with people to better coexist with grizzly bears.”
In a statement, Dr. Elmeligi accused Mr. Loewen of trying to frighten Albertans into believing grizzly bear attacks are common and the only solution is to kill the bears. “This is just outright false,” she stated. “Killing bears doesn’t reduce conflict, it reduces populations.”
“A UCP Minister is choosing to serve himself and his friends rather than Albertans who have spoken in support of grizzly bear recovery time and time again,” the MLA for Banff-Kananaskis said. “This decision by the UCP government is not informed by science or scientific data. … Shooting your way out of wildlife management challenges is archaic and needless.”
The story has now caught the attention of foreign media, with the United Kingdom’s Guardian newspaper taking a break from its post-election coverage to explore the latest UCP depredation from Alberta.
Todd Loewen should be ashamed. He stands to profit from this and he should resign for this corruption. Of course he won’t as the UCP puts in ministers who don’t know anything about their responsibilities; they are there to fill there pockets as fast as possible. Jason Nixon is probably looking for a pregnant sow to shoot already (from a safe distance of course). Unbelievably corrupt and misguided nonsense from a government that never fails to set the bar lower and lower again.
The UCP brainiacs can’t seriously think Albertans buy this load of bunk! A Grade 4 kid could have come up with a more plausible justification for this depraved legislation. To add insult to injury, it is such a brazen act of conflict of interest for the Minister of Parks and Forestry who owns an Outfitting business. Really, how stupid do these guys think we are? And, as if we are uncaring about our wildlife and vanishing iconic species? What dreadful timing right after the Banff white grizzly and her cubs were killed, in separate highway incidents yet, taking THREE bears out of the population in 1 day. What a pathetic excuse for a government. Shame on that “Minister”.
Betts: There is definitely a conflict of interest here, but like anything else that has sound morals, it’s beneath the UCP.
I have never seen any evidence that there is any limit to what Albertans will buy.
This hunt to reduce grizzly bears in Alberta is reckless & reduntant thinking. We are here to protect them not destroy them. It is “humans” who need to be educated on what is the “bears territory” & take precautions when in their habitat. The minister/ MLA of Parks & Forestry needs to be fired right now. Widen your old thinking & maybe by following what other countrys do is to have the government compensate the farmers for a loss of livestock aswell as educating the public & decline future development into the bears environment.
Naturally if you want the obvious, you’ll get the obvious, as there are pecuniary advantages for ‘right thinking’ in the economic order of things (“it’s normal government practice to have someone with a vested interest in an industry oversee its regulation and he doesn’t see an issue.”). It simply cannot be avoided, apparently, because as it has already been pointed out, ““There’s nothing unusual here,” “This is regular business when it comes to the government.””
In other words, government is business and business is government. With a concomitant faith in the determinants of market pricing mechanisms and a price (monetization) for everything, a neo-classical nirvana for all is surely just around the corner, or perhaps just over the horizon; where, unsurprisingly the language used also determines and provides the boundaries for desired behavior(s) and thought within the doctrinal system and subsequently reinforces its constructed ‘truths’.
The overtly manipulative language games, and all of the deliberately deceptive bs that goes along with them is the thin gruel offered up as both justification and support for the chosen orthodoxy and its policies by the political PR representatives; where, they:
“. . . seek to convey a certain impression of themselves without being concerned about whether anything at all is true. They quietly change the rules governing their end of the conversation so that claims about truth and falsity are irrelevant. Although bullshit can take many innocent forms, excessive indulgence in it can eventually undermine the bullshitter’s capacity to tell the truth in a way that lying does not. Liars at least acknowledge that the truth matters.”
General knowledge has landowners dropping problem grazers, deboning the best cuts and leaving the rest in the bush. Elk problem solved except the remaining carcasses seems to attract bears now?
Still love the story about the campdog that treed a bear and wouldn’t leave it alone . Deciding something had to be done the dogs owner got a rifle and shot the dog.
Bears are going to pay big time for a people problem and as a “society” we will again side with the abuser and the destroyer.
Mr. Todd Loewen, with all due respect what if the ‘problem bear’ isn’t a trophy? If I was paying over a million dollars to hunt a Grizzly, I’d want a trophy. Not many big bears in Alberta. They are a long way from salmon spawning streams and Kodiak Island. Will the millionaires be using bait barrels and tree stands? More human fed bears? More ‘problem bears’ created? Adds a whole new meaning to ‘a fed bear is a dead bear’. And what if you are successful in taking out a dominate male? What happens to the cubs he sired? Will other males kill them? YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT BEARS OR BEAR BIOLOGY, OR HOW TO RECOVER AN ENDANGERED SPECIES! BACK THE TRAIN, THE HELL UP!
” what if the ‘problem bear’ isn’t a trophy?”
Your point is valid, Waneeta, but more importantly, in my mind, is the reverse of your question: what is a trophy bear isn’t a problem bear? In my mind this creates motivation for an outfitter, who discovers a magnificent trophy animal in his area to make the animal a problem. Put out a bunch of meat in the animal’s range, get him habituated, then wait for the animal to cross a line when he becomes a problem.
Farfetched? Stranger things have happened.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perverse_incentive
Another wedge issue. UCP wants to deepen divide between rural and urban voters.
It’s only a wedge issue to you because you think grizzly hunting is popular with rural folks, when in fact it is not. It’s popular with psychopaths.
I swear the UCP gets all its idea about wildlife from Montana, where it’s called “grizzly bear management”, not “grizzly hunting”. Let’s just hope they don’t allow “managers” to pick off grizzlies from along the train tracks in Banff National Park. (I did once see a truck inside city limits in northern Alberta stop suddenly on the shoulder, whereupon hunters took shots from the truck bed at deer beside a community centre with a playground. IOW, I wouldn’t rule it out. What better way to pick a fight with the feds?)
https://mountainjournal.org/is-montana-grizzly-bear-management-plan-really-grizzly-hunting-plan
Painfull as it is to admit, the reason the UCP can do this, is Albertan voters: 9000-10,000 people (at least 75% of all votes cast) voted for Mr. Loewen in each! of the two recent elections.
Bears don’t vote. And we are all the worse for it.
PJP: Wasn’t Todd Loewen one of the UCP’s cabinet ministers who broke the UCP’s own Covid-19 restrictions?
If I am not mistaken, he also invited the heads of the Coutts border blockade to the Alberta Legislature, even though they broke the law. He welcomed them as invited guests. That is a big no no.
“Alberta has lost 92 per cent of its native mammal biomass while humans and their livestock and pets have increased 701 times.”
https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2024/07/08/One-Number-Shocking-Story-Wild-Mammals/
Add to the list the fee-free disembowelers of the Maclean Creek area of Kananaskis Country who can create mayhem yet anyone else in the area who wish to hike, climb or even enjoy the scenery have to pay the $90 annual park levy.
The sooner these losers are ejected from the Alberta legislature the better.
Why change the laws/rules??
Imho, the obvious answer is simple: Don Jr was getting too much flack from his trips overseas, and with Marlaina’s help, I’m sure he won’t have any problem getting the hide and the racks across the border. And he can get great, fresh cut stump pics, before they mine away those breath taking vistas.
After all, what are friends and allies for?
Cynical? Not Moi !
Well at least Smith isn’t taking the bears out to a gravel pit and shooting them like a well known US politician did with her dog, but this approach to conflict management and communications is no better.
Of course the UCP doesn’t much care about Alberta’s reputation elsewhere, except when it spends millions and hires a former failed UCP candidate to run a communications disaster known as the War Room. Perhaps some of its former staff have now been reassigned to support getting rid of more of an almost endangered species. Because it seems their better communications staff are now on summer holidays or something.
Maybe this approach will go over well with some in the eastern slopes upset about the UCPs previous plans for coal development in the area. But no doubt getting rid of those bears will make it easier for this to happen too.
Of course shooting one doesn’t work because nature abhors a vacuum and another will come in to fill it, also unaware of the potential conflicts and fate that awaits. At least that is how this will go until they become more extinct. That seems to be the ultimate outcome here despite all the nice language trying to dress it up as something better.
Not so sure another will come in to replace it.
Just across the border, the state of Montana wants the right to hunt grizzlies in national parks like Glacier (which abuts our Waterton National Park) and along the Yaak, MT and Continental Divide corridors. Their grizzlies are likely some of our grizzlies, who roam freely at will. Why is (sovereigntist) Danielle Smith so keen to align with Montana? Has she been to one of Governor Greg Gianforte’s famous mountain lion teriyaki, antelope chops wrapped in bacon, and elk tenderloin suppers? Governor Greg is known for taking down the radio-collared adult black wolf “1155” outside Yellowstone National Park’s boundary. He also killed the radio-collared mountain lion “M220” in the same area, using hunting dogs to drive it up a tree, whereupon it was shot and killed, lawfully. Would Governor Greg and his very wealthy friends like a piece of Alberta’s action, maybe with a cross-border chase for extra excitement? If PP comes to power, perhaps he can change federal national park protections so that wealthy people from all over the world can kill off what’s left of Canada’s endangered species, plus adding treaties for lawful thrills of the cross-border hunt. Too bad if a few tourists with marshmallows, wildlife photographers or protesting hippies get in the way.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Gianforte
Just an after thought— I don’t suppose that those pesky bears are coming out of their normal habitat because they are being driven out by “mining exploration ” ?Hmmm…
I have friends from Northern Alberta who are First Nations and Metis. One told me that bears are harmless, because he walks by them in the wild.
Bears get agitated and defensive if they feel threatened. We are encroaching on their territory, so where will these bears go if their food supply is diminished?
Todd Loewen just wants to help out his own self interests, and makes a mock scenario to support those interests.
I have no problem with hunting, as long as it’s done for food. Doing it, and calling it a sport, is where I disagree.
The logical fix to all of this would be to stop voting for these imbeciles but that appears to be beyond the ability of the people in this province. The verbal diarrhea that comprises this announcement is proof positive that Smith and the UCP believe Albertans are idiots. They are not wrong. Let’s see how those sycophants Bell and Braid spin this as a righteous move by the UCP.
This seems like another instance of Dominionism in action. The UCP base, along with many of their federal brethren, adhere to a theology that takes literally the Biblical admonition in Genesis to “have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” (source: RationalWiki, quoting the KJV: https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Dominionism).
Environmentalism runs counter to this theology: https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/11/17/how-religion-intersects-with-americans-views-on-the-environment/. Essentially, they believe the environment only exists to be exploited by humankind, often for profit.
“‘We are taking a proactive approach to help Albertans co-exist with wildlife through our new wildlife management program,’ said Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Loewen, a part owner of a hunting guide outfitting company. ‘These changes demonstrate our commitment to ensuring Albertans can safely work and recreate throughout the province.'”
Aren’t bears Albertans? Who was here first?
Shooting bears after they get into trouble is reactive, not pro-active.
The UCP’s ultimate goal is to help Albertans co-exist with LESS wildlife.
“Not replaced since his retirement two years ago was the province’s only human-wildlife conflict specialist, Jay Honeyman, whose preventive work would be preferential to a hunt, said Marriott.
“Honeyman said the province’s grizzly recovery plan states there should be one large carnivore biologist who works specifically to mitigate bear-human conflict in each of Alberta’s 7 bear management areas, but since his retirement, there’s now none.
“‘I don’t know why I haven’t been replaced, what we’re talking about now is more REACTIVE — there should be more PROACTIVE systems in place, then we wouldn’t be needing to even talk about this stuff,’ said Honeyman, whose work included bear-proofing properties.
“‘We were making a lot of headway, but I guess the government’s priorities are different.'”
“After 18-year moratorium, Alberta grizzly bear hunt to resume” (CH, Jul 09, 2024)
https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/alberta-grizzly-bear-hunt-to-resume
UCP: “Alberta’s government is taking action on problem grizzlies responsible for the increasing number of negative interactions.”
Human-bear conflicts arise from faulty human behavior. It not up to bears to change their behavior. It is up to us.
#1 Leaving out attractants: livestock, carcasses, and grain bins easily opened by bears.
Ranchers effectively bait wildlife and then complain about the presence of bears.
When you bait bears with food, is it really any surprise that they come and get it?
The usual response is to kill the bears. Unless we change our ways, we will have to keep killing bears till the end of time.
No such thing as problem wildlife.
There are only problem people.
Wildlife management is a farce. There is only one species that needs management. Us.
*
As man advances, nature retreats.
Over the decades, grizzly bears have lost much of their native range. Grizzlies once roamed across the prairies from Manitoba west. Their habitat is continually shrinking as humans invade and take over their range. Grizzlies are now reduced to a fraction of their original range.
*
“Wild mammals now represent a puny four per cent of the biomass of mammals on Earth. … Today, humans and their livestock, including pigs, cows and horses, comprise the majority of living mammal biomass — a remarkable 96 per cent. … The Living Planet Index now records a 69 per cent decrease in monitored wildlife populations including mammals since 1970.”
“One Number Tells a Shocking Story about Wild Mammals” (The Tyee, July 8, 2024)
https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2024/07/08/One-Number-Shocking-Story-Wild-Mammals/
My world has room for both wildlife and people.
“Roughly 180 of them are safely inside Alberta’s federally run national parks.”
Sample headlines:
Black bear death tally deemed ‘atrocious’
Nearly all black bears deaths in parks caused by humans
Grizzly killed on highway near Lake Louise
A deadly year for wildlife in Rocky Mountain parks
Grizzly bear destroyed after it chases 2 people up a tree
Apple-loving Bear 3905 killed on Trans-Canada Highway near Banff
Speeders blamed for killing six bears on mountain national park highways
More bears dying in Rockies
Train kills young grizzly near Banff
Female grizzly bear killed by train, two yearlings left on their own
Black bear cub killed by train near Canmore
Train kills two young grizzly bears in Banff National Park
Black bear No. 9 killed on tracks in Banff national park
‘Smorgasbord’ of grain found spilled along railway line in Banff raises grizzly issues
Critics claim Parks Canada, CP fail to address human cause of grizzly deaths
Mother of rare, white-headed cub killed Sept. 3 by train, cubs presumed dead
Rare white grizzly bear and two cubs killed in Canada in separate car strikes
Parks Canada’s failure to meet its mandate and protect wildlife is egregious.
Shame on all of us.
“to ensure the safety of humans and livestock”
What would it take to ensure the safety of bears?
Danielle Boobe can’t ensure the safety of humans by knocking off bears. Hikers and hunters who walk into the bear’s living room are liable to attack. Especially if they let their dog off the leash.
Bears act like bears. Surprise.
“‘Unbelievable I survived’: Yukon woman attacked by bear speaks out” (CBC, Jul 08, 2024)
“Leegstra was on a run with her dog near the Pine Lake campground at around 10 p.m. that day when she spotted a group of bears.
“‘I was trying to give them space before my dog noticed, but she either saw or smelt them… and she took off towards them,’ she said.
“Leegstra’s dog was leashed, but upon seeing the bears it broke free and chased away two female bears.
“In a July 2 statement from Yukon Conservation Officer Services, a spokesperson wrote that arriving officers euthanized a bear that was present at the location of the attack. Three additional bears that matched Leegstra’s description were located and two more were euthanized. Efforts to locate the fourth bear are still ongoing.
“‘We recognize the public concern around euthanizing bears following a defensive attack,’ the statement read. ‘In circumstances like this, critical decisions are made in the interest of public safety and the safety of personnel.'”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/haines-junction-bear-attack-victim-speaks-1.7256750
If she was telling the truth, this woman did not have a good grip on her leash. More likely, the dog was off leash.
The result? Three dead bears and possibly a fourth. Thanks to our trigger-happy “conservation” officers for keeping us safe.
When it comes to justifying the slaughter of wildlife, all governments resort to Orwellian language.
UCP: “This response could include tracking and euthanizing a problem animal”
“Euthanizing” means giving a good death to. Killing bears is completely unnecessary.
“Euthanizing” is also the term used for putting down rodeo animals after the inevitable injuries sustained during risky rodeo events at the Calgary Stampede.
Those are not good deaths, either. Totally unnecessary.
Grizzly bears have recently been sighted on Vancouver Island.
Is there a pattern here?
Now Scotty, please don’t start giving John Rustad any more bad ideas; next thing you know he’ll be coming out of the “witness protection program”…saying it’s all the NDP-Liberals fault for the bears leaving the mainland. If the bears were left to govern their own resources (aka unburnt forests & meadows) we wouldn’t be having this problem.
One thing I admire about the UCP is they don’t try to hide the excellent service their wealthy support base gets.
Want to develop multi-million dollar show homes in a horribly undermined wildlife patch and push further into the wilderness against the local population and councils wishes – GREEN LIGHT
Are you a rich Australian that wants to extract coal through acutely environmentally poisonous mountain top removal for export to China – GREEN LIGHT
Want to compensate for your pathetic manhood by shooting Grizzly bears with the flimsiest of excuses – GREEN LIGhT
Want to deforest vast tracts of land in Kanansskis Country & make huge profits despite public opposition and strong environmental reasons for Hmong doing so – GREEN LIGHT
The list goes on & on – the UCP run this province for the profit of a few at the expense of many.
This is literally why there is a Grizzly on the state flag of California, but none found in the state. The naked, arrogant, corruption of this government is STAGGERING.
As they are on all continents, maybe we need to deal with the most invasive species on the planet. Homo Sapiens.
I have never read such a consistent collection of comments by such a united group of conspiracy theory driven wingnuts. No thoughtful dialogue here, just bash the government and virtue signal all day long. Very sad.
And yet, even though you took time to comment, you took zero time to engage with any factual analysis or refutation of said “virtue signalling conspiracy theories”
Sad. “Everyone I don’t like is woke and everything woke is bad”. Poor thing.
On one hand the minister is saying nothing is changing except who is pulling the trigger. On the other hand this new program will help people deal with livestock and safety issues. Which is it? A bunch of complete B S. They dont even try to hide the corruption anymore.
I doubt this will be printed but I wish I could click my heels and be anywhere but here