A significant portion of Banff National Park’s old growth forest will be set afire this fall in an effort to restore crucial habitat for the area’s grizzly bears.

An 800-hectare area around Baker Creek will be set ablaze sometime between Labour Day and Halloween as a means of rehabilitating the natural landscaping and attracting hungry bears that have been roaming near the Lake Louise townsite.

“The primary objective in Banff for some time has been to improve the grizzly bear habitat in the upper Baker Creek area,” said Rick Kubian, fire vegetation specialist for Lake Louise, Yoho and Kootenay.

The prescribed burn is the first to be undertaken in the area, which has not seen a natural fire since the late 1800s. As such, most of the area – the size of 320 football fields – is made up of mature pine forest.

The south-eastern portion of the area, in which the forest is thinner and leads into a rock slope, will be used as a guard to ensure the fire does not burn out of control.

Fire Specialist Jean Morin, who is organizing the burn, said he is confident the “boulder areas” will ensure the prescribed burn remains safe, and describes the project as a long-term vision for the area.

“We want to make sure we’re strategic when we do these things, to help us for ecological integrity, but also to keep the facilities safe,” he said, adding the creek itself will prevent the fire from spreading in the other direction.

Forest fires naturally rejuvenate habitat for animals by allowing old forested areas to see a resurgence in plant and tree growth. Officials estimate the Baker Creek area – one of several sites for prescribed burns in the national parks this year – will become lush habitat for grizzlies in 15 years.

“This will be a pretty popular spot for wildlife after the burn,” said Kubian.

Kubian added officials will wait until wind and weather conditions are right before beginning the burn. Ideal conditions would include several days of dry weather in advance of the burn, as well as consistent wind blowing to the east in order to minimize the impact on surrounding areas. However, Baker Creek Chalets, which are only two kilometres from the edge of the burn area, will likely be affected by the project.

According to Parks Canada literature, smoke from a prescribed burn would not have an adverse impact on human health, nor would it contribute to global warming.

In addition to restoring grizzly bear habitat, the project aims to reduce the number of trees susceptible to mountain pine beetle and contribute to re-establishing the historic fire cycle in Banff National Park.

Source: Dan Ovsey – Rocky Mountain Outlook

Hikers and campers are being warned once again to be on the watch for bears in the Jasper region.

Grizzlies and black bears have been flocking to the area because of strong crops of buffalo berries in the low- and mid-mountain ranges in Jasper National Park, the same areas popular with tourists.

Bears are being attracted to tourist areas by bountiful berry crops.

“Most of our facilities are those low- to mid-elevation areas. That’s where most of our trails are, that’s where a lot of our back country campgrounds are also, and of course our front country campgrounds,” said Wes Bradford, the park’s wildlife conflict specialist.

Bradford says last year’s wet weather is responsible for the strong berry crops.

So far there have been no instances of bears actually knocking someone down, but officials say they are getting nearly a call a day about people bumping into bears on the trail.

Bradford advises people in the area to travel in groups and check for updates on trail closures.

A similar warning was made for the Jasper and Bow Valley regions last month.

Source: CBC news

Researchers at the University of Calgary are using satellite images and ground surveys to create the most detailed map available of Alberta’s grizzly bear territory.

The ongoing study could help guide policy on activities such as road building, forestry, and oil and gas drilling.

Source: CBC news

With the fire hazard hovering at high in the Bow Valley and expected to reach extreme if warm, dry weather continues, Sustainable Resource Development (SRD) officials are urging caution.

As of Tuesday (July 25), one small fire was under control in the Southern Rockies Wildfire Management Area, which covers the area west of Highway 22 and from the Burnt Timber area south to the U.S. border.

Three abandoned fires were found on the weekend by patrolmen, said Wildlife Information Officer Janell Maitland.

“We were lucky we found those,” said Maitland, “With the dry conditions, they could have been much bigger quickly.”

Lightning caused another small fire in the region on Monday.

On the weekend, said Maitland, the fire hazard was extreme throughout the area, but rain on Sunday and Monday reduced that somewhat. Currently, no fire bans are in place.

With weather expected to be in the high 20s again through the weekend, and with lightning possible, SRD officials will be on alert.

“We’re not over it yet,” said Maitland. “There’s still lots of sun coming our way.”

Maitland said the Bow Valley and Kananaskis Country have been relatively fire-free. “I’m always glad when there’s nothing (fires) out in Canmore and Kananaskis,” she said. “There’s more population there than in the Burnt Timber or Crowsnest areas.”

Overall, as of Tuesday, there are 40 fires burning in Alberta, with 105,000 hectares ablaze. SRD has 142 personnel, eight helicopters, three water tankers and 10 bulldozer units fighting active fires.

Source: Dave Whitfield – Rocky Mountain Outlook

Kelowna Wild Fire 2003

Motorists travelling through Rocky Mountain national parks this fall can expect to see two prescribed fires.

Rick Kubian, fire and vegetation specialist for the Lake Louise/Kootenay/Yoho/Field Unit, said that depending on the conditions, Parks Canada plans to ignite fires on Mt. King in Yoho National Park and in the Baker Creek drainage in Banff National Parks sometime after the September long weekend.

As smoke is always a concern, Kubian said Parks have smoke management plans for both burns. However, he added, those plans have their limits.

“It is a tricky thing to manage smoke. We have some front-end capability when we start the initial ignition, but once we are into the ignition we are, to a degree, at the mercy of the weather as far as the smoke goes.

“We can do some things like try and do more ignition when the venting is better and we can try and not do venting when the ignition is poor,” he said.

Kubian said the ideal situation to keep smoke off the Trans-Canada Highway, the Bow Valley Parkway and out of the Bow Valley is to conduct the burn when the wind is blowing from the southwest.

“The venting pattern will be to the north and the east and the bulk of the smoke should vent up the Amiskwi (Valley) and sort of north and east of Lake Louise and the bulk of the Bow Valley, but we’ve had smoke go 180 degrees on us,” Kubian said.

“We want to make sure the public understands there’s a certain amount of uncertainty built into these things. As far as smoke management goes, we’ll do the best job we can to pick the best window and get the job done to minimize smoke, but where there is fire, there’s smoke and to a certain degree, only so much we can do.”

While both burns achieve the same goals—improve grizzly bear habitat, alter potential mountain pine beetle habitat and create firebreaks—Kubian said each burn has different priorities.

The priority of the 1,900-hectare Mt. King fire, located near the confluence of the Otterhead and Kicking Horse Rivers, is to decrease the amount of available habitat for the mountain pine beetle.

“I think from our perspective it certainly is about the mountain pine beetle and trying to cycle that forest through fire and beetles. That is what we likely anticipate the likely scenario in Yoho to be over the next three to five years—much of the mature forest will be impacted by mountain pine beetle.

“That’s a pretty important point for folks to understand,” he said.

Meanwhile, improving grizzly bear habitat is the primary goal for the 800 ha. Baker Creek fire.

Before the Mt. King prescribed burn can be started, Parks plans on building hand-thinned fireguards along the northern edge of the planned burn area. Ignition of the burn area will then take place by hand and by helicopter in five different sections.

Source: Rob Alexander – Rocky Mountain Outlook

Banff National Park has closed a popular hiking trail as a pre-emptive move to combat human-wildlife conflict in the area.

The Aylmer Pass, a well-know trail in Banff’s backcountry at Lake Minnewanka, was closed on Monday (July 24) due to a bumper crop of Buffalo Berries (Shepherdia) in the area, which will undoubtedly attract hungry bears looking to fatten up for the winter.

“The berry crop in the past few weeks has come due to the warm spring conditions,” said Banff Park Warden Ron LeBlanc, who was out taping off the Aylmer Pass trail on Monday.

LeBlanc stressed the Lakeshore Trail, which runs along Lake Minnewanka, is still open to the public, but that visitors should be aware the area is still an attractant to bears. Walking along the trail, the warden pointed out Buffalo Berry bushes line the length of the trail for as far as the eye can see.

Traditionally, Parks officials have chosen to close the Aylmer Pass in a reactive manner. This year, however, the government agency has elected to pre-emptively shut the six-kilometre trail in order to avoid the possibility of putting visitors in danger. The trail has been the site of five bear attacks in the past eight years. All the attacks happened to individuals who were either alone or in pairs and had surprised a sow and her cubs.

LeBlanc said the pre-emptive closure is part of a two-year trial period and is intended to protect bears and allow them to eat in peace as much as it is to protect humans.

“We’ve initiated these strategies for public safety, but also for bears to allow them to use these areas,” he said.

Additional areas are also slated for closure, including the Allenby Pass on Aug. 8, and others if Parks officials feel there is a danger of human-bear conflict.

The closures will remain in place until October when bear activity in the area subsides and the bears slowly begin to retreat into their dens.

At the Canmore Nordic Centre, the lower Georgetown Trail is closed until further notice due to the presence of a black bear and cubs. Bear warning signs have been placed on all CNC trails as berries are ripe and plentiful. Dogs should be kept on a short leash.

In Kananaskis country, as of Monday (July 24), bear warnings in the Galatea Creek Trail, Lillian Lake Backcountry campground, Galatea Lakes and Guinn’s Pass have been lifted.

A bear closure for the Picklejar Lakes area has been lifted, including Picklejar Lakes Trail in the Lantern Creek drainage, Picklejar Creek route/trail and Picklejar Connector route/trail.

Backcountry users can consult both Bow Valley WildSmart (bvwildsmart.ca) or Trailex.org for wildlife updates.

Source: Dan Ovsey – Rocky Mountain Outlook

Hikers and campers in the Canadian Rockies are being advised to lookout for bears in the Bow Valley and Jasper regions due to the strong buffalo berry crop this year – the result of last year’s wet weather.

The Buffaloberry

The Grizzly and Black bears in the Canadian Rockies in Alberta rely on the berries this time of year, as it is their main source of food. The Pacific Salmon are unable to pass over the continental divide, which runs North-South and marks the Alberta, British Columbia border, so the bears here have to settle with mostly vegetation for food.

The Grizzly bear

A Grizzly bear requires about 20,000 calories a day during the summer months in order to build up their body fat (humans require about 2,000 calories). This means a bear will have to eat about 200,000 berries a day in order to be healthy!

The berries have already ripened in low to mid-elevation areas, such as campgrounds and hiking trails, which are also busy with tourists. Berries in upper elevations have yet to ripen causing the bears to descend to these lower elevations to feed.

Officials announced Tuesday the Aylmer Pass Trail will be closed from the Lake Minnewanka Trail to the park boundary beginning July 24th due to bear fears. This is three weeks earlier than the scheduled closing date!

By hiking with a certified guide, you can avoid unnecessary situations which may involve bear encounters such as staying clear of berry patches, making plenty of noise and carrying bear spray. A certified guide knows the areas to hike and those to avoid.

Contact rocky-peak Holidays for more information on hiring a certified hiking guide on your vacation, to allow you to make the most of your hiking time here in the spectacular Canadian Rockies.

Source: CBC News – Tuesday, July 11, 2006