In the olden times man and creature walked as friends who carried the beauty of the land in their hearts. Now each one of us is needed to make sure the salmon can find a place to spawn and the bear cub a tree to climb. There is little time left and much effort needed. - Chief Dan George
Back Then
Imagine a summer morning, 400 years ago.
Seven-year-old Emile, a mighty hunter, sneaks quietly through the young junipers in pursuit of an imaginary cougar. He has no idea these prickly plants will still be growing in 2008.
Focused on his prey, Emile pays no heed to the sheep grazing above him on the slopes of Mount Norquay. He is not interested in the porcupine waddling out of a stand of spruce trees. He is focused only on the great cougar and the glory that will be his. Suddenly, his mother’s voice frightens the animal away. Emile frowns.
His mother tells him it is time to go. The campers are going to burn and prune nearby vegetation so that lush new growth will attract game into the Bow Valley. Game that will sustain them through harsh winters to come. Emile is expected to help.
Emile’s mother reminds him that when the work is done they will return to The Juniper’s sunny bench to pick berries and prepare for the feast planned for tonight. Thoughts of the feast cheer Emile up. He will hear his father and other men tell stories of long journeys and great hunts.
Later, as the beating drums carry him to sleep in his mother’s arms, Emile the great hunter again pursues his prey.
In the 1950s
The 1950s was a time of great change for bears in the Bow Valley.
Although National Park Game Regulations made the act of touching, feeding or enticing a bear unlawful, it was a common to see people doing exactly that as they toured highways through the Park.
Hotel guests were greeted with a large sign on Banff Avenue, directing them “To the Bears.” The sign lead them towards the town’s open dump, where bears gorged on leftover human food.
Around the same time, a rabies outbreak prompted a “predator control program”. Between 1952 and 1955, government officials trapped, shot and poisoned an undocumented number of grizzlies in Banff National Park.
In 1958, after years of close calls and minor human injuries, a black bear killed a young boy along the Banff- Jasper highway. His death prompted calls to enforce the law that made it illegal to feed bears, and to secure and bury garbage.
As the decade drew to close, human-habituated bears were no longer a major attraction. Interest was shifting towards enjoying bears from a distance, secure in their natural surroundings.
Now
The physical geography of the Bow Valley has shaped it story. Today is a crucial chapter, one that will determine the Valley’s ecological future.
The Valley’s natural east-west passage through the Rocky Mountains, long used by aboriginal travelers, is the route of an 1880s railroad still active today. The TransCanada Highway further divides the Park.
Two busy easy-west transportation routes have had unintended consequences for animals used to travelling in north-south patterns. Animals – and sometimes people – die during attempted crossings. Populations have declined; so has genetic diversity.
Growing understanding of wildlife corridors prompted construction of a series of over-and-underpasses. These crossings allow animals to safely traverse the TransCanada Highway, to eat and to mate with those on the other side.
Sadly, there still is no safe way to cross the train tracks. A recent Parks Canada study found the railroad to be the single largest killer of grizzly bears in the mountain parks in the last 20 years.
Kevin Van Tighem, Banff’s Superintendent, is worried. “It is pretty clear we are losing more grizzlies than the estimated population can sustain. That is a significant concern considering national parks are where you would expect to have the best habitat.” (as quoted in the Rocky Mountain Outlook, June 5, 2008).
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