Parks Canada recently released it’s second annual report regarding the status of grizzlies within the Mountain National Parks titled Grizzly Bear Monitoring in and around the Mountain National Parks: Mortalities and Bear/Human Encounters 1990-2008. While short on guidance and recommendations the report offers further evidence suggesting the greatest threat to grizzlies within our Mountain National Parks (Banff, Jasper, Glacier, Kootney, Mount Revelstoke, Waterton, and Yoho) are automobiles and trains.

In putting this post together I was playing with a working title of – If at First You Don’t Succeed… Lower the Bar – to convey my displeasure with Parks Canada’s adoption of less stringent mortality measures. However my pessimism would diminish the impact of a number of positive steps taken by the Mountain Parks to address grizzly bear mortality that deserve to be highlighted and held up as initiatives that are clearly having a positive impact on bear management:

The closure of “open” garbage dumps has virtually eliminated the deaths of habituated “garbage bears” within the Parks;

Public education, trail/area closures, and the installation of electric fencing (Lake Louise) have lead to dramatic improvements in reducing “public safety issues” that previously resulted in dead bears; and

Though still an issue, a significant reduction in vehicular incidents was also demonstrated.

Kudos to the Mountain Parks staff; please keep up the good work!  Comparing the 1980-1989 to 1990 – 2008 data sets within the report I’m surprised at the level of turn-a-round despite the staff, budget, and program cuts that have occurred over these years.

When considering the positive bear management impacts thus far it becomes evident that if the underlying management issue is solely within the control of Parks Canada a positive outcome given time is at  least possible.   However, where grizzly management is a collaborative effort (i.e. in partnership with Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Railways) the results are less than stellar.  According to the compiled 1990 – 2008 figures trains are the greatest contributor of human-caused grizzly deaths.   At the current rate grizzlies will be pushed  to the brink in Banff National Park, where grizzly mortalities were the highest, compared to the other Mountain Parks, and have not met either the old nor new mortality criteria for the past seven years.

Human-caused female bear mortality overall in the seven mountain parks is below the threshold that would cause concern, but the deaths of grizzly sows in Banff park alone has alarmingly exceeded the accepted mortality target for the past seven years.

That’s according to Parks Canada’s second annual grizzly bear monitoring and mortality report for the mountain parks of Banff, Jasper, Kootenay, Yoho, Waterton Lakes, Mount Revelstoke and Glacier National Parks.

The report shows the single largest killer of grizzly bears in the mountain parks over the past two decades has been the Canadian Pacific Railway through Banff and the Canadian National Railway in Jasper.

As mentioned in the opening this report offers nothing more forward looking other than a rudimentary mathematical adjustment under the guise of “best science available”. Whatever. Changing the number from 1% to 1.2% will not have a significant effect considering Banff under it’s current Management Plan is not capable of reaching this milestone. This for me is where the report should have stepped up and recommended further steps in rectifying the identified causes of grizzly deaths within the Mountain National Parks. The data is there… act on it.

If I had my rose-coloured-glasses on I would start with revisions to the Mountain National Park’s respective Management Plans with details of a) what is to happen if/when mortality targets are exceeded, and b) a plan to deal with rail traffic issues that is as robust as other management initiatives contained within the Parks Management Plans. As it is now the tellingly glib “continue to work with CPR to reduce wildlife mortality” that is already within Banff National Park’s plan is woefully inadequate and clearly needs a new focus to resolve this issue.

Despite what the railways would like us to believe vacuum trucks are ineffective and upgraded grain cars serve to only solve part of the problem. I don’t know what the solution is but at least a half dozen ideas – expanded wildlife corridors, elevated tracks, fencing, increased patrols/hazing at problem cites, spray skirts, pilot cars, and track side sensors, spring to mind. Are these ideas novel? Are they the solution(s)? Probably not. But at least it’s a start.

So close… yet so far.

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