getasheep
10-18-2007, 01:55 PM
Alberta accepts advice on grizzlies
Province will consider limiting motorized access to habitat
Darcy Henton
edmontonjournal.com
Thursday, October 18, 2007
EDMONTON - The Alberta government moved today to accept most of the recommendations of a task force it struck five years ago to develop a plan to save grizzly bears.
Ted Morton, minister of Sustainable Resource Development, commended task force members for their "hard work and patience" in developing a strategy that calls for creation of bear conservation areas and limiting access to some wilderness areas.
"This plan will provide invaluable advice and will inform and shape Alberta's grizzly bear conservation efforts," Morton said. "I have asked my staff to begin examining opportunities for limiting unregulated motorized public access in core grizzly bear habitat areas."
The province suspended the annual spring grizzly hunt for three years beginning in 2006 after bear biologists warned that counts suggested the grizzly population is significantly less than the 1,000 bears previously estimated. New data suggest the population, including bears in national parks, could be less than half of that, but counts in two areas have yet to be completed.
The province has still not moved to list grizzlies as a threatened or endangered species despite the recommendation of its own conservation committee and the urging of 17 scientists, including David Suzuki and David Schindler.
Officials at Sustainable Resource Development say the status of grizzlies will be reviewed when the hunting moratorium expires in 2008. No decision has been made to resume the hunt in 2009.
The province has also not accepted recommendations to boost funding and staffing to implement the recovery plan, saying budget decisions "will be made in the usual manner, recognizing all of the priorities faced by the department." Nor is it moving immediately to boost compensation for ranchers who suffer bear-caused livestock losses.
The plan won't be released to the public for another two months, pending final revisions.
dhenton@thejournal.canwest.com
© Edmonton Journal 2007
Province will consider limiting motorized access to habitat
Darcy Henton
edmontonjournal.com
Thursday, October 18, 2007
EDMONTON - The Alberta government moved today to accept most of the recommendations of a task force it struck five years ago to develop a plan to save grizzly bears.
Ted Morton, minister of Sustainable Resource Development, commended task force members for their "hard work and patience" in developing a strategy that calls for creation of bear conservation areas and limiting access to some wilderness areas.
"This plan will provide invaluable advice and will inform and shape Alberta's grizzly bear conservation efforts," Morton said. "I have asked my staff to begin examining opportunities for limiting unregulated motorized public access in core grizzly bear habitat areas."
The province suspended the annual spring grizzly hunt for three years beginning in 2006 after bear biologists warned that counts suggested the grizzly population is significantly less than the 1,000 bears previously estimated. New data suggest the population, including bears in national parks, could be less than half of that, but counts in two areas have yet to be completed.
The province has still not moved to list grizzlies as a threatened or endangered species despite the recommendation of its own conservation committee and the urging of 17 scientists, including David Suzuki and David Schindler.
Officials at Sustainable Resource Development say the status of grizzlies will be reviewed when the hunting moratorium expires in 2008. No decision has been made to resume the hunt in 2009.
The province has also not accepted recommendations to boost funding and staffing to implement the recovery plan, saying budget decisions "will be made in the usual manner, recognizing all of the priorities faced by the department." Nor is it moving immediately to boost compensation for ranchers who suffer bear-caused livestock losses.
The plan won't be released to the public for another two months, pending final revisions.
dhenton@thejournal.canwest.com
© Edmonton Journal 2007