The Waterton Biosphere Region’s Carnivores and Communities Program works to limit conflict between people and large carnivores using a multifaceted approach empowering communities to take charge. 

Though management of animals like bears, including lethal control, is a provincial responsibility, this provincially funded program turns its focus to promoting strategies for successful sharing of the landscape.

“It started because landowners in this area were just experiencing an increasing level of problems with large carnivores, particularly grizzly bears and wolves,” says Jeff Bectell, the program’s co-ordinator.

The initiative began as neighbours and biologists working together to manage carnivore attractants, and when success was found, the province approached the group with grant funding to further enable the work. 

In 2009, the program was formalized as the Carnivores and Communities Program under Waterton Biosphere and a survey was undertaken to identify the needs the program could fill.

In this survey, CACP found that individuals were very concerned about safety, particularly that of their children, but felt the landscape could be successfully shared if properly managed.

“The great thing about it is people in local communities came together in a proactive way to try and address problems or concerns that they have, and that government stepped forward to listen to those concerns and provide some support, and continues to do so,” Bectell says. “I think that’s awesome.”

The work the program does ranges from general community education sessions to helping landowners with specific projects to mitigate carnivore attention.

CACP hosts a community education session about bears in Cardston, Alta.

Image courtesy of Thomas Porter, WBR communications co-ordinator

CACP and Alberta

In January of this year, the Province of Alberta reinvested five years of funding into the program in response to increased concern about growing grizzly bear, black bear and wolf and cougar populations and interactions with the carnivores. 

“The Waterton Biosphere Reserve Association has worked successfully to promote peaceful coexistence between humans and wildlife in the Waterton Biosphere Region through its Carnivores and Communities Program,” said a January Forestry and Parks media statement. 

This $700,000 for five years means a $160,000 contribution in 2023-24 and $135,000 annually for the subsequent four years, according to the release.

“Coexisting with wildlife, including large carnivores, is an everyday part of living and working in rural Alberta,” said Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Loewen.

“The Carnivores and Communities Program is making a difference for farmers, ranchers and landowners in the Waterton Biosphere Region and this investment will help protect humans, wildlife and infrastructure.”

When the Alberta government released its controversial rapid conflict response from a pre-decided hunter network to kill problem bears when issues arise, CACP was highlighted as a way for rural Albertans and ranchers to prevent conflict before the point of escalation.

Strategies

Restricting large carnivore access to agricultural attractants is a key tool in reducing human-carnivore conflicts in southwestern Alberta and forms a large annual component of the Carnivores and Communities Program, according to a Waterton Biosphere Association 2019 report.

These attractants are typically vulnerable or already dead livestock. 

For Bectell, the ideal outcomes of the program are ensuring people and large carnivores both have a place on the landscape, and economic losses are prevented through co-operative projects. When these losses occur, individuals are fairly compensated through Alberta’s Wildlife Predator Compensation Program.

He also wants to see public safety from bears and wolves improved while maintaining appropriate and sustainable predator populations in Alberta.

Grizzly bears are listed as a threatened species, and in a 2021 census Alberta estimated the presence of 856 and 973 grizzly bears, and set a species recovery goal of 1,000 mature bears. 

According to a Government of Alberta press release from July 9, 2024, the current number of total grizzlies is roughly 1,150. According to the government, grizzly and black bears killed 120 head of livestock in 2023 and 2024, and there have been a total of 104 attacks by black and grizzly bears from 2000 to 2021.

The CACP can help and has been helping to make Alberta safer for both people and carnivores. Bectell has also seen a shift in public perception of carnivores, with rural communities safer, while still understanding the risks of encounters.

“We’ve seen conflict levels decrease as a result of the projects that are done,” says Bectell. “It’s a success story for people, the environment, and wildlife.”

To get involved with upcoming CACP training sessions, watch for information online and sign up for the email list. To workshop a specific property issue that has or can cause carnivore conflict, call Jeff Bectell. 

Related articles:

• Grizzly bears back in crosshairs
• Sharing landscape with carnivores
• When is a grizzly hunt not a hunt?
• Opinion: Shooting outside the box