Imagine that, just as valley temperatures rise into double digits, wildlife stories are back in the news.
As Bow Valley residents are embracing recent sunshine and warmth and spending more time outdoors to take advantage of it, we imagine bears may be feeling the need to peek out from their dens in an effort to gauge the permanence of spring’s arrival.
Unfortunately, we have wildlife stories this week that are good and bad.
On the upside is that conservationists (page 6) are lobbying the Province to kick in some $7 million for another Bow Valley wildlife overpass located east of Canmore near Lac Des Arcs.
On the downside is that a Calgarian who allowed his off-leash dog to chase bear 104 and her cubs last year (page 11) was fined a measly $350 for doing so.
That’s it? A lousy $350 for letting a dog chase a grizzly and her cubs?
We can only assume that the traffic commissioner who levied the fine is not quite up to speed on the seriousness of the off-leash dog/harrassing wildlife issue locally, unlike, say, Judge Les Grieve who not too long ago levied $3,000 fines against a couple of Edmontonians who had ridden their bikes through a herd of bighorn sheep in Banff.
Further, Grieve recently slapped two men with $1,000 fines in unrelated incidents for leaving food in their Two Jack Lake campsite and attracting a wolf which was destroyed by wildlife managers shortly after because it was food habituated.
Fines in the range of $1,000 to $3,000 are much more in keeping with what Bow Valley residents feel are appropriate punishments for tampering with wildlife. On the other hand, $350 is pretty much a slap on the wrist and not much of a deterrent.
What is needed are continued harsh penalties for wildlife tampering and having dogs off leash in wildlife corridors, along with increased enforcement all over the Bow Valley for those that ignore dog-related bylaws.
Now, before bears are out, is a good time for dog owners to give some consideration to keeping their canine friends properly leashed and for bylaw and wildlife officials to give some thought to upping enforcement.
Then again, when you think of how often the Outlook has had stories about bears, wolves and other wildlife being plowed into by vehicles east of Canmore, there can be little doubt another wildlife overpass is badly needed. Never mind Outlook stories, large blotches on blood on the Trans-Canada speak for themselves.
It’s not like overpasses are a new, unproven technology. Studies have shown that, once wildlife in a given area become used to using the overpasses, they do so regularly.
It’s no wonder. Stand on one side of a wildlife underpass, or an overpass, and decide which you’d rather use. A dark, tunnel-like, enclosed space with a little grass and soil and traffic rumbling overhead, or a wide open, treed overpass with traffic passing beneath?
Not much doubt ... And while $7 million is certainly not chump change for taxpayers, one can only wonder at the cost of continued carnage on the TCH. Insurance costs, vehicle repairs, possible loss of human life after a vehicle strike, etc.
One only has to look westward to successful overpasses in Banff National Park for prime examples of a wildlife protection project that worked.
