Calls for the Alberta government to open a grizzly bear hunt are being backed by the Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA).
As stated in a policy resolution, the RMA will “advocate to the [provincial government] to implement a regulated grizzly bear hunt administered through a draw system.”
The motion was put forward by Cardston County and carried by RMA membership in late March.
“As the population grows, communities in southern Alberta have seen a significant increase in human-bear interactions,” the Cardston County statement accompanying the motion reads.
Last summer, a fisherman was injured near the town of Cardston, about 20 kilometres north of the U.S. border, after he was charged by a grizzly sow with cubs.
“Residents, ranchers, and municipal staff have reported bears approaching homes, entering outbuildings, breaking into grain bins, and preying on livestock,” the statement reads.
“Field workers in Cardston County have faced aggressive encounters while performing routine duties, including a recent incident where a summer staff member was chased by a grizzly bear at close range while working near the river in Kimball.”
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A spokesperson for Cardston County did not respond to a request for comment ahead of publication.
The majority of RMA’s membership, which is made up of more than 60 rural Alberta counties and municipal districts, voted in support of the resolution.
RMA president Kara Westerlund told CBC News increased reports of bear activity have “definitely heightened safety issues for rural residents of some of the municipalities, especially along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta.”
Last year, a high number of bear encounters led Alberta Parks to issue a blanket bear warning for the entirety of Kananaskis Country — the first time such an advisory was issued since 2016.
“I think there’s a real opportunity to work together to find some meaningful solutions here,” Westerlund said. “Looking at a grizzly bear hunt is just one of those pieces, I think.”
The RMA resolution also calls for the province to “establish a dedicated funding program to support grizzly bear research, conflict-mitigation efforts, and community safety initiatives,” and to increase funding to help landowners bear-proof their property in an effort to address the pressures of livestock predation.
Alberta Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Services received more than 60 complaints involving confirmed cases of grizzly bears killing livestock last year — with four incidents reported in Cardston County.
The motion also calls for the province “to end the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan,” which has been in place since 2008, “and implement a Grizzly Bear Management Plan.”
The recovery plan includes protecting and restoring grizzly habitat in mapped-out bear management areas, working to minimize the risk of human-wildlife conflict and human-caused grizzly bear mortality, and raising awareness on bear coexistence through BearSmart programs across Alberta.
Grizzly bear hunting has been banned in Alberta for two decades, with the exception of harvesting by Indigenous hunters for subsistence or cultural purposes.
The province designated grizzly bears a threatened species in 2010.
In a statement sent to CBC News, the provincial Ministry of Forestry and Parks did not directly respond to the prospect of a grizzly bear hunt.
“Alberta’s government is focused on protecting both public safety and wildlife by continuing to manage grizzly bears responsibly,” the province said.
“Since the 2006 hunting moratorium and the 2020 recovery plan, most areas have seen population increases, making public awareness, education, conflict prevention, and the responder program increasingly important,” the province said, adding that its staff “will continue to work closely with Albertans to help achieve these objectives in bear habitats and landscapes.”
In 2024, the province launched its Wildlife Management Responder Network, through which “problem” grizzly bears can be killed by qualified hunters with provincial approval.
The province’s pool of “grizzly responders” consists of qualified hunters who applied and were selected for the program. When a situation arises where the province deems it appropriate for a grizzly bear to be killed, those hunters may be called upon.
The province has said the program is not considered a grizzly hunt, as authorizations are granted on a case-by-case basis rather than through tags. But much like sport hunting, the responder can keep the bear’s meat, hide and all other parts of the animal, except for its gallbladder.
One grizzly bear has been killed by a hunter since the program’s inception.
Westerlund said the RMA would like to see its proposed grizzly hunt expand on the existing program, with a focus on problem bears.
RMA’s policy resolution calls for a hunt with “the number of available tags determined annually based on population data, conflict trends, and the outcomes of previous seasons, to help maintain an appropriate and sustainable bear population.”
According to the province’s data, 18 grizzly bears were killed by people last year: seven as “problem wildlife,” seven harvested under treaty rights, three hit by vehicles, and one killed in self-defence.
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Cardston County’s statement points to data from a 2016 study that identified 172 grizzlies in a bear management area encompassing much of southwestern Alberta, “with the region now supporting the highest grizzly bear population density in the province.”
There hasn’t been a provincial study on grizzly numbers since 2018, when a population survey indicated there were between 865 and 973 bears in Alberta.
In a 2024 release, the province said Alberta’s grizzly bear population had “increased from approximately 800 to more than 1,150 now, causing them to move into more populated areas.”
“People are still seeing good numbers of bears, they continue to expand eastward, but there isn’t recent science to confirm that at this point,” said Jeff Bectell, co-ordinator of the Waterton Biosphere Reserve’s Carnivores and Communities Program.
The association, which oversees biodiversity and wildlife coexistence programs in southwestern Alberta, was consulted prior to the motion being put forward.
“Lethal control is part of living with large carnivores, and there needs to be lots of discussion about that and science behind it too,” said Bectell.
He said the association isn’t necessarily for or against the RMA policy resolution, due in part to it being multifaceted and proposing multiple solutions to a complicated issue.
“If [we are] never willing to remove a problem bear, that’s probably not going to lead to the sustainability that we need,” he said. “And if all we do is run around shooting bears, we’re not getting to the point that we want to be at either, but it’s got to be all of these things working together, and it’s never going to be perfect.”
Westerlund, with RMA, said the lack of recent population data is not ideal for municipalities concerned about grizzly bears.
“It’s a great opportunity now to sit down and have those conversations before things become a bigger problem than they already are,” she said.
Reports of grizzly bear sightings this year started in March, including Banff National Park’s iconic Bear 122, better known as The Boss.
Mountain View BearSmart, which tracks sightings of bears and other carnivores in central Alberta, documented observations of two grizzlies and two separate sets of footprints this March.
