Spring is just around the corner in the Waterton Biosphere Reserve area.   That means before we know it many landowners will be seeing and dealing with bears on their property.

The Carnivores and Communities program has  produced three technical guides designed to support landowner efforts to reduce conflict with large carnivores. These guides are available in PDF format (see below) or by contacting the WBR.

WBR Carnivores and Communities Technical Guide: Deadstock Removal Program 

WBR Carnivores and Communities Technical Guide: Electric Fencing

WBR Carnivores and Communities Technical Guide: Securing Your Grain Storage

Deadstock Removal Bin

Electric fence project aimed to reduce carnivore conflict

Bear Resistant Grain Bin Door

You might also be interested in:

Bear Resistant Garbage Bin Program

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That may sound callous to some but unfortunately farms and ranches all have some degree of death loss, often caused by weather, disease and the birthing process.  Traditionally, many farms and ranches disposed of these carcasses in a “boneyard”.   This would be a selected area on their land which landowners considered a safe and appropriate place for disposal.

When bears and wolves were less frequent on the agricultural landscape, boneyards posed little threat to the safety of livestock or farm families.   However, with the return of large carnivores to many areas, ranchers found that boneyards were being frequented by not just lesser carnivores such as coyotes, but bears and wolves as well.

But it wasn’t just the boneyards that the bears and wolves began to visit.  Other conflicts between ranchers, bears and wolves also increased, in part because these boneyards were drawing large carnivores closer to farms and ranches.   Examples of these conflicts include: depredation of livestock, tearing apart grain bins or beehives and getting into garbage.   All of which can pose a threat to the safety of farm and ranch families, their livestock, and even the carnivores themselves.

In the early 2000’s, ranchers and other partners of the Blackfoot Challenge (a community based conservation effort in Montana’s Blackfoot River watershed) developed a deadstock removal program.  Living with Large Carnivores: Boneyards, Bears and Wolves is a newly released film that shares the journey of the folks of the Blackfoot Challenge as they work to find solutions for reducing conflict with carnivores on the agricultural landscape.

While the film demonstrates the work being done in one area of Montana, it also proposes the idea that by working together, from a grassroots level, we can learn to reduce the risk of living with large carnivores on our farms and ranches.   The Blackfoot Challenge has provided a model for carnivore conflict reduction that can successfully be implemented in any part of the world.

Living with Carnivores: Boneyards, Bears and Wolves from Alpenglow Press Productions

After visiting the Blackfoot Challenge area in 2008 and seeing the deadstock removal program in place, ranchers began to develop a similar program in southwestern Alberta.    The Waterton Biosphere Reserve Deadstock Removal Program, built on the efforts of local landowner groups, has now grown to include free deadstock pickup for producers on over 500000 hectares (1.2 million acres) in the municipalities of Cardston, Pincher Creek, Ranchland, and Willow Creek.

Living with large carnivores is not a simple exercise, certainly not simple enough to be solved by one initiative like deadstock management.  But as Seth Wilson, Wildlife Committee Coordinator for the Blackfoot Challenge, says in the film, carcass removal is ‘one piece to a larger puzzle of living alongside of large carnivores’.  We hope that by working together to put the pieces in place, we can solve this puzzle.

For more information on the deadstock removal program in southwestern Alberta click here.

Or contact Jeff Bectell, WBRA Carnivores and Communities Coordinator
Phone: 403 653 2219
Email: jbectell@watertonbiosphere.com

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Sharing the Range on the big screen at the Remington Carriage Museum Theatre

Cardston, AB – May 8th, 2015 – Sharing the Range, a film about the challenges of living with large carnivores premiered in Cardston, Alberta on May 8^th.   The short film, just fifteen minutes in length, provides a glimpse into the lives of farmers and ranchers in southwestern Alberta who share their land with a high population density of grizzly bears.

Produced by the Waterton Biosphere Reserve, Sharing the Range provides spectacular images of grizzly bears raising their cubs alongside people and cattle.  It also tells the story of the people that raise the cattle, and their families here.

The film premiered to a full house, a testimony to the number of people who care about the farm and ranch families in the area, along with the grizzly bears who also call this special area home.

In Sharing the Range, local ranchers talk about the concerns they have for the safety of their families and their livestock.   They share examples of the work that farmers and ranchers have done to reduce the risk of conflict with grizzly bears.  Many landowners have carried out attractant management projects and made operational changes to allow for coexistence with bears.  Still, the people in this area are facing significant conflicts with large carnivores.  These conflicts can have a serious impact on their lives, both in terms of safety and economics, along with the stress that comes from both worries.

“In the past week we have lost two calves to grizzly bears, with a third calf badly injured – it might not make it either,” Jen Jenkins, local rancher, told the crowd following the premiere.   Her family respects the wildlife on their ranch, but in the last few years are seeing an increase in losses to bears.   “For most of my life I only remember ever losing a handful of cattle to carnivores, maybe 6 head in 20 plus years.  Since 2013 we have lost 9 head directly to bears, and probably another 10 head due to secondary problems associated with attacks on our cattle.   We do everything we can to protect our livestock and allow the bears space to roam, but the challenges are still there. ”

Following the premiere in Cardston, folks gather for some interesting discussion on grizzly bears and the future of ranching in southwestern Alberta.

Sharing the Range tells the story of the important role that farmers and ranchers play in looking after the environment in southwestern Alberta and the hard work involved in sustaining healthy habitat for wildlife, including grizzly bears.  It also makes a call for people to consider the responsibility we all have in managing wildlife and how we can better support the families that are on the land, day to day facing the challenges of living with grizzly bears and other large carnivores.

“We hope that people will recognize the effort being made by landowners to coexist with large carnivores and will provide their support to those efforts” says Jeff Bectell, rancher, Waterton Biosphere Reserve Association Chair and Coordinator of the WBR Carnivore Working Group. “Both financial and political support is needed to continue deadstock pickup and conflict reduction projects, to see producers fairly compensated for livestock killed by predators, and to implement a grizzly bear recovery plan that allows for bear management that is effective not only for grizzly bears but also for the safety and livelihood of farm and ranch families.”

View Sharing the Range and learn more about the film:  www.sharingtherange.com

Additional showing dates:

Pincher Creek & District Municipal Library

May 14th, 7pm

Waterton Lakes Opera House
Thursday May 21st at 7pm
Following the movie we invite you to stay for music, food and drinks withPetunia and Tin and the Toad

Twin Butte Community Hall – TBA

Maycroft Bear Safety Workshop
May 27th at 1pm – exact location TBA

Waterton Wildflower Festival
June 24th 2015, details TBA

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A film about ranch families living with grizzly bears in the Waterton Biosphere Reserve to be released May 8^th, 2015.

Pincher Creek, AB – April 29, 2015 – The Waterton Biosphere Reserve is proud to announce the upcoming release of a short film, Sharing the Range, on May 8, 2015. The film tells the story about the challenges of living with large carnivores and how people in the Waterton Biosphere Reserve (WBR) are meeting those challenges.

The southwestern corner of Alberta, Canada, where the Waterton Biosphere Reserve is located, is home to a large number of people involved with agriculture; it is also home to a high population density of bears. With so many people and carnivores sharing the same habitat, there are bound to be conflicts.

Click on poster to enlarge

“We have bears in all this country; lots of sows with little cubs. They’ve denned near here – so it’s not just in the mountains and not just on public lands that we are seeing a lot of grizzly bears. It’s on private lands all over the place.” Jeff Bectell, rancher, Waterton Biosphere Reserve Association Chair and Coordinator of the WBR Carnivore Working Group

In response to the community’s need to find solutions for dealing with large carnivores, The Waterton Biosphere Reserve Association (WBRA)  embarked on a multi-solution,  long term project called “Carnivores and Communities”.

The project takes a multi-level approach, including initiatives such as providing on the ground support to help people reduce carnivore attractants on their farms and ranches, proposing changes to the provincial carnivore compensation program, and supporting the monitoring of grizzly bear, black bear and wolf populations in the area.

The previous population estimate for the area was 51 grizzly bears. Current research has identified 177 individual grizzly bears that used and were detected within the study area between 2011 and 2013; with 128 grizzly bears being detected in 2013 alone.  Additionally well over 100 farms and ranches have successfully completed projects on their property to reduce potential conflicts with large carnivores, or have participated in the deadstock removal program.

As the Waterton Biosphere Reserve has worked with the local community and wildlife managers to address the issues of living with large carnivores, the need has arisen to share the story of the farmers and ranchers who directly face the many challenges of living with large carnivores; challenges that impact both their livelihood and the safety of their families.   Despite these challenges, southwestern Alberta families are working hard to solve the problems that arise when animals like bears and wolves share the landscape with people and agriculture. It is important for people who care about large carnivores, and people who care about the landscapes of southwestern Alberta, to recognize the effort spent and costs incurred by farmers and ranchers stewarding these lands.

And so it is that Sharing the Range was produced, offering a glimpse into the lives of farm and ranch families and their struggle to share the land with large carnivores. The farmers and ranchers of the Waterton Biosphere Reserve appreciate the unique landscape in which they live, knowing that their land is prime habitat for wildlife. However, making a living in this environment is not without challenges and wildlife can pose significant concerns for rural families in terms of safety and economics; along with the stress that comes from both worries.

Sharing the Range tells their story:  real people, with real families who work hard to produce healthy food in a sustainable way that allows room for large carnivores to roam.

“I wish we had a better way of communicating with the general public about who we are. Often I think people misunderstand farmers’ and ranchers’ feelings about wildlife.  What I would like people to know is that we enjoy seeing a grizzly bear or big bull elk as much as anyone, but when our livelihood and our families are threatened by wildlife over which we have little control, it can be very upsetting to us. My hope is that Sharing the Range will allow people a glimpse into our lives, and a better understanding of the situation which we are living in here in southwestern Alberta.“ – Tony Bruder, rancher and Area Coordinator for the WBRA Carnivore Working Group

Leanne Allison, filmmaker

Filmed by award winning filmmaker Leanne Allison, with footage contributed by Jeff Turner, famous cinematographer and wildlife filmmaker; Sharing the Range not only tells an important story of the people in the Waterton Biosphere Reserve, but offers stunning imagery of southwestern Alberta and the grizzlies who call this area home.

The full documentary will premiere May 8^th, 2015 at 7pm in the Remington Carriage House Theatre, Cardston, AB.  Everyone is welcome, and we hope you will join us.

View the Sharing the Range trailer and learn more about the film:  www.sharingtherange.com

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Participate in interpretive snowshoe hikes to Crandell lake, horse drawn carriage rides, documentary viewings, avalanche awareness, and more indoor and outdoor fun for your entire family !  For more information or to view a complete schedule of events please visit http://www.watertonfestivals.org/

The Waterton Biosphere Reserve Association (WBRA) will be participating in this year’s Winterfest on Saturday, March 14 2015, 5:30 to 7:30 pm in the Waterton Lakes Lodge Conference Room.  Please join us and others, as the WBRA Chair and Coordinator of the WBRA Carnivore Working Group, Jeff Bectell, presents a short documentary on reducing conflict with large carnivores.    Also a part of the evenings events will be a panel discussion on the topic “Can bears and humans live without fear of each other ?”  Further details on this specific event can be found in the poster below.

To view a PDF of the poster please click Bears and Humans.

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Photo by Jen Jenkins

On November 12th and 13th, 2014,  The Waterton Biosphere Reserve Carnivore Working Group held public meetings in Cardston County, the M.D. of Pincher Creek, and the M.D. of Ranchland. With approximately 150 attendees in total, the Carnivore Working Group addressed concerns from area residents and hosted discussion regarding what the future may hold for the management of large carnivores in southwestern Alberta.

One significant finding presented at the meetings is new data which suggests that southwest Alberta’s residents are right; the number of grizzly bears in this neck of the woods is significantly higher than what previous reports suggest.

Since 2011 researcher Andrea Morehouse has been collecting hair samples from bears throughout the southwest corner of the province and sending them away for DNA analysis. In 2013, 128 grizzly bears were detected south of Highway 3. This brings the number of unique grizzly bear profiles identified since the study began to 177. Morehouse’s research comes at a critical time as the Province of Alberta works on a new Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan.

During the community meeting, Paul Frame, Provincial Carnivore Specialist with Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development presented an overview of the provinces updated approach to grizzly management which may take into account population density and local sensitivity.

The new Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan is expected to be open for public comment in early 2015.

Also attending the meetings were Alberta Fish and Wildlife officers who presented facts regarding the number and type of incidents involving large carnivores in southwestern Alberta.

The Carnivore Working Group continues to work on reducing large carnivore attractants which can have an impact on both the livelihood of farmers and ranchers and the personal safety of all residents.

“Farms and ranches provide food for people and also habitat for wildlife; including large carnivores. We can help producers make changes so that when large carnivores show up on private property there is less likelihood of conflict. That said, there will still need to be management options for dealing with problem bears, wolves and cougars,” says Jeff Bectell, local rancher and current chair of the Waterton Biosphere Reserve Association.

The Carnivore Working Group has recently proposed a number of changes to the livestock compensation program which they expect to hear back on by the spring of 2015. The group hopes these proposed changes will be an improvement on the current system and better suit the needs of livestock producers.

Updates relating to the Carnivore Working Group and the Grizzly Bear Recovery plan will be posted on our website as they become available.

Further reading:

2014 Grizzly Monitoring Update

Black Bear Monitoring 2014 Update

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