Editor:
Get your Kleenex ready, for the tears shed for Nakoda (bear No. 178) and her cubs, are only the beginning of the slaughter.
Back in the early-1990s, Paul Paquet, a carnivore biologist at the University of Calgary, wrote:
“The Bow Valley in Banff National Park, which comprises about 50 per cent of all usable habitat for large carnivores in the park has been reduced to 10 per cent of its original effectiveness for wolves and grizzly bears because of development.”
Already the pressure of habituation to humans is showing its dangerous situations. Elk routinely visits Canmore’s Main Street. In the spring, herds of elk try to navigate across roadways, and there are more sightings of grizzly bears than I can remember for the past 50 years. The tragic end to the wildlife of the Bow Valley can only end one way.
In the book, Protecting Canada’s Endangered Spaces, published in the mid-1990s, they suggested the only solution to protect spaces was to declare a moratorium on growth, improve the wilderness quality of the Bow River Valley, and bring the surrounding provincial parks and wilderness up to the highest conservation standards.
In California, the grizzly bear is the symbol on their state flag. In the mid-1800s, they estimated 10,000 grizzlies roamed the state. By 1924, the grizzly in California was extinct. Loss of habitat, overhunting, and a collision with population were the reasons for the grizzly’s demise.
Today, Banff and Canmore combined have a population of about 26,000 people, and we are scheduled to add 15,000 more. We must recognize we cannot save species without saving spaces. Obviously, no one listened back in the mid-1990s, for what has happened in the last 20 years in the Bow Valley is appalling, with more to come.
The developers are now in control of the valley, and now that this has happened, is all lost?
Are we willing to accept the consequences and sacrifice this valley, or are we ready to go into action, individually and collectively to save this endangered space?
Linda Evans,
Canmore
