Increased fencing and improved crossing structures in the Eastern Bow Corridor will help mitigate wildlife mortality and increase habitat connectivity for several species, according to Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation Park Ecologist John Paczkowski.
“I hope we continue to fence to the east to do a better job of protecting wildlife,” said Paczkowski.
The ecologist made the comments as part of the Bow Valley Wildlife speaker series Tuesday, Nov. 29 at Canmore Collegiate High School.
“Hopefully, using information, and with co-operation from other agencies, we’ll find the funding and the willpower and the vision to make these wildlife underpasses better for the future.”
In a wide-ranging talk that touched upon a litany of wildlife issues, Paczkowski gave an overview of several wildlife monitoring programs, including updated winter tracking and remote camera studies. The studies have identified several key wildlife movement corridors and ‘hotspots’ integral to the survival of many species in the Eastern Bow Valley.
“Animals are using them and if we screw them up and develop them, I’m not sure how animals are going to persist,” Paczkowski said.
Using data mined from the Eastern Bow Valley Corridor study, the key is to maintain long-term movement between habitat patches and protected areas, he said. Winter tracking data collected followed more than 300 kilometres of animal tracks, while the camera study set up 641 monitoring sites. Each was monitored for 35 days, providing strong information for the province to study.
Data collected through remote camera and winter tracking studies portrayed the eastern corridor as a vibrant home of more than 30 species of wildlife, which has several key areas where animals frequent and others with problems.
“There are critical pinch points at Dead Man’s Flats and crossing issues at Gap lake, Grotto Canyon and Exshaw.”
Ensuring animals can travel west of Dead Man’s Flats to the underpasses is extremely important, Paczkowksi said.
The research, some of it eight years in the works, demonstrates the need to keep these habitat patches connected through the use of wildlife corridors.
“We look at things like regional movement corridors. Between the river and Dead Man’s Flats we have to maintain some sort of connectivity. It’s identified as a major movement corridor.”
Winter tracking data revealed that most species prefer moving through the landscape at an elevation below 1,580 metres. Other than cougars, which prefer steeper slopes, wildlife choose to move at slopes less than 21 per cent in grade.
Paczkowski also spoke of a troubling trend in which large carnivores don’t use the Wind Valley underpass. While some species are using it frequently, larger carnivores generally aren’t.
“There’s a learning curve for species. After time they get to know it. That’s exactly what happened in Banff.”
Grizzly bears and cougars have begun to frequent the Stewart Creek underpass, however, they aren’t using the Wind Valley structure very much. Cougars, for example, use the Stewart Creek underpass seven to eight times a month.
“It’s concerning not seeing large carnivores use the Wind Valley underpass. It’s only been there since 2004, and it may take 10 years before they use it. Bobcat and lynx are not using it,” Paczkowski said.
One of the reasons animals could be avoiding the Wind Valley underpass is its proximity to humans, he surmises.
“Human activity may be influencing that underpass. We see the expansion of Dead Man’s Flats, the gun range and that may be influencing the usage,” Paczkowski said.
He also highlighted many locations where particular species like to frequent. According to camera data, cougars like to hang out near the high slopes of Jura Canyon, Grotto Mountain and the slopes above Exhaw. Those locations are also frequented by bighorn sheep – a favourite prey of the cougar.
Bobcat and lynx are commonly found on the south sides of the highway near Lac Des Arcs.
“For bobcat, no one thought they were really out there, but the camera and tracking data picks up that bobcat are existing on the landscape.”
Lynx prefer darker forests, Paczkowski said, which was also proven by the studies, since they were found more often in the dark forests on the south side of the valley.
“A lot of their use is on the south side of the highway. We hardly have tracking (of lynx) on the north side.”
The data also provided insight into animal behaviour. Paczkowski said lots of animals are active early near dawn and dusk. However, sheep are more active in the middle of the day when predators are resting.
Yet despite the plethora of wildlife data, the most common species to pop up in the study was human.
“We’re the most abundant species out there,” Paczkowski said.
Data also identified several elusive species, including one sighting of a wolverine, mountain goat and a wolf. A raccoon – almost unheard of in the Bow Valley – was also seen on the cameras in October.
While some corridors appear to be under threat, others will be rehabilitated. The province identified habitat patches by the Burnco quarry and Lafarge Hogsback area – both disturbed by human use. The World Wildlife Federation and Lafarge are now working with the province to rehabilitate the Hogsback area.
“We’re talking to Lafarge about rehabilitating the Hogsback area so it would become a corridor again. It could take 80 to 100 years. It’s encouraging. It looks pretty screwed up now, but one day it may function as a corridor again.”
A Canmore corridor study is scheduled for this year and Paczkowski said the information will be used as part of broader corridor studies in the future.
