Gov. may restrict offroad and sleds in grizzly habitat

[rocky mountain racer]

ALBERTA MAY LIMIT THE USE OF ALL-TERRAIN VEHICLES AND SNOWMOBILES ALONG THE EASTERN SLOPES OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS TO HELP THE GRIZZLY BEAR POPULATION RECOVER. THE PROVINCE SAYS IT HAS ACCEPTED MOST RECOMMENDATIONS IN A REPORT DESIGNED TO IMPROVE GRIZZLY NUMBERS.

SUSTAINABLE RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT MINISTER TED MORTON SAYS THE GOVERNMENT WILL LOOK AT LIMITING OFF-ROAD VEHICLE USE IN BEAR HABITAT. BUT MORTON SAYS THE GOVERNMENT WANTS TO HEAR BACK FROM THE PUBLIC BEFORE MAKING A FINAL DECISION. ALBERTA MAY ALSO EXTEND A MORATORIUM ON HUNTING GRIZZLY BEYOND 2008 IF POPULATION STUDIES DETERMINE THE SPE3CIES SHOULD BE DESIGNATED AS THREATENED OR ENDANGERED. WHILE TYHE GOVERNMENT WILL NOT PROVIDE AN ESTIMATE OF THE GRIZZLY POPULATION NOW, ENVIRONMENTL GROUPS SAY ALBERTA HAS FEWER THAN 500 OF THE BEARS.

They are trying to blame offroading on supposed reductions in grizzly bear numbers. There have been many studies showing no such thing, but the government is chosing to ignore them. Write Ted Morton and tell him what you think about this.

[Spinalguy]

Teddy...wake up you ignorant and uninformed Minister.
Try looking at LOGGING and OIL and Gas before you think that OHV has any impact on Bears.
Try managing and enforcing OHV areas instead of the BS you spin.
Using Bears as an excuse to close areas was always available to the SRD as i knew from previous discussions with Rick Blackwood. i just never thought any politician would have the audacity to pull it off. Teddy, you sir have the nads and the ignorance to do such a thing. Looks like the Quads are back in bed with the rest of the OHV community as this will be blanket closures. It almost puts a smile on my face...almost

[Spinalguy]

i do notice that Teddy Moron wants to see more HUNTING in this province. Hmmm...how will they access these hunting areas?

Anyways, here are some links:

http://www.banffcragandcanyon.com/News/346362.html

This one is from the AWA which are the spin doctors of mis information. They come as close to outright deceit as is possible. Read with a grain of salt, but realize that they are VERY powerful and Teddy listens!

http://issues.albertawilderness.ca/BH/history.htm

http://www.albertawilderness.ca/AWRC/WL ... 02_WLA.pdf

[Spinalguy]

And from one of the above:
""It is not a frequent occurrence
when government, the ranching
community, forestry sector, oil and gas
industries, conservation organizations,
and academia all come together with
a common action plan to address an
urgent environmental and social issue.
But that is the case with the current
draft of the Grizzly Bear Recovery
Plan. This is a consensus-based plan
built by all of these diverse stakeholder
groups."

So, i see nowhere where Recreationists are consulted and yet it will be the recreationist penalized and the government will proudly state that all stakeholders were consulted.


My question is this:
As a paid member of RMDRA i am also a paid member of AOHVA...

AOHVA, what are you doing on our behalf?

[WR_Dave]

Ask the gov't if they have any before and after pics ( spring to Fall ) of what has happened to Bar C. They kick the recreation users out so the oil and gas companies can go in and totally clear cut the entire area on the east side of the dry river bed, I don't think the grizzly's will mind being out in the wide open spaces to be poached that much easier. This province is only in it for the money and ours isn't in one lump sum so it doesn't raise any eyebrows. The carnage at Bar C was viewed while driving a truck on what used to be the road down to the river bed, which is now a logging road with huge piles of trees along either side. This province is becoming alot of BS. WR Dave.

[dirtyboy]

rockymountainracer,

Can you point us to any more information about this?

Assuming it is true, perhaps we could create a letter here so that interested folks could print it off, sign it and send it to:

Honourable Ted Morton,

Minister of Sustainable Resource Development
420 Legislature Building
10800 97 Avenue
Edmonton, AB T5K 2B6
Phone: (780) 415-4815
Email: foothills.rockyview@assembly.ab.ca

Your MLA
Find your MLA’s contact information at
310-0000 (toll-free)
http://www.assembly.ab.ca/net/index.asp ... number=&by

[Brent]

The single track riders have the grizzly in our heart. that is why we race the "Grizzly XC" we are one with the bear and respect its environment, way more then the evil people that try to take away the land. if the single track is lost to the bush pilots, then the century old bond is broken and the bears will be forced to pray on mountain bikers and bird watchers who have a more common bond with deer.

do not mess with the great Grizzly and its allies. come for a ride first on the Grizzly loop and you will find a new respect for the single track riders bond to the wilderness.

[MotorEd]

We recieved an unsolicited email from Darcy Whiteside from the Communications Dept at SRD to clarify what is being done with regards to the Grizzly Bear Recovery Program.

Seems the original post up top has a pretty hard slant against OHV's that really doesnt come through in these media releases.....interesting.

[Spinalguy]

Big Dog...nice i too revere the Grizzly and have some art on me to pay homage to the Griz. And, my dog is named Griz.

Thanks for posting that Brad.
In the second document, there is much cause for concern. Under implementation of recommendations, there is reference to stakeholders of which according to the above posted info, the motorized community is NOT part of. (see below for stakeholders)
Here is a paragraph from the SRD document:

The third step will be looking at regulatory changes regarding:
1/ bear depredation of livestock,
2/ public motorized access,
3/ feeding dangerous wildlife, and
4/ storage of bear attractants by private and municipal landowners.

Stakeholders
Who were the members of the Grizzly Bear Recovery Team?
The recovery team is a multi-stakeholder group with knowledge and interests in various relevant areas. It includes representation from governments, conservation groups, industry and academia. They include:
o Gordon Stenhouse, Foothills Model Forest (Co-Chair)
o Lisa Wilkinson, Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, Fish and Wildlife Division (Co-Chair)
o Dr. Rick Bonar, Alberta Forest Products Association
o Andy Boyd, Alberta Fish and Game Association
o Dr. Mark Boyce, University of Alberta
o Rob Staniland, Canadian Association Of Petroleum Producers
o Peter Zimmerman, environmental non-government organizations (Alberta Wilderness Association, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Association, Grizzly Bear Alliance, Yellowstone to Yukon)
o David Penner, Federation of Alberta Naturalists
o Dave Hobson, Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, Fish and Wildlife Division
o Rick Blackwood, Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, Southern Rockies Area
o Dr. Robert Barclay, University of Calgary
o Darryl Carlson, Western Stock Growers Association
o Kevin Williams, Alberta Energy
o Bill Tinge, Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, Lands Division
o Dr. Mike Gibeau, Parks Canada

And this:
Final Report
The Recovery Plan was accepted by the Minister of Sustainable Resource Development in October 2007 and will be released when the final report is complete. Most recommendations were accepted and many components have already been implemented (see Recovery Plan Questions and Answers for further details.

Also Teddy was heard on radio programs specifically speaking about OHV possible restrictions in the Eastern Slopes. i can not find the actual webstream but has been verified by several independent OHV enthusiasts.

Tom

[dirtyboy]

The third step will be looking at regulatory changes regarding:
1/ bear depredation of livestock,
2/ public motorized access,
3/ feeding dangerous wildlife, and
4/ storage of bear attractants by private and municipal landowners.

You are good at finding the important details in the document. I didn't catch that in my first read through the document.

I did notice that the Grizzly bear population has doubled from 42 in 2004 to 90 in 2006. I'd say that the numbers are increasing and that the Grizzly hunting ban has certainly had an effect. So obviously the Grizzly Bear Recovery Team is using or attempting to use the Grizzly as an excuse to limit motorized vehicles.

I wonder what the meaning of the motorized vehicles means? I wonder if we could get some clarification on this? Perhaps it means closing industry created roads or changing OHV access rules. I'd appreciate clarification on that.

[twotired]

I saw on the news last night that the government has finally finished counting the grizzly bears in Alberta. There are 581 grizzzlys in Alberta with 344 in the Peace river area and the rest spread out elsewhere. They also said a sustainable population in this province would be 1000 bears and our current situation would classify the Alberta grizzly population as "threatend".

[rogue]

I'll be taking this as reading material for by the fire tonight. When I'm done I will likely burn it.

[bigdaub]

My friends and I came across a sign riding through racehorse pass in the crowsnest saying that the trail was highly used by grizzly bears and that the trail was closed sept 1 until spring....