A mountain pine beetle infestation that has already killed off billions of trees in British Columbia is threatening to take over Alberta’s jack pine, marking the start of a deadly cross-country trek.

Each mountain pine beetle is the size of a grain of rice, but the voracious insects have already devoured an area of B.C.’s forest the size of Iceland.

Another two million hectares in Alberta are now at risk, and the infestation could spread to Canada’s boreal forest.

“It likes all pine species and we’ve recently discovered this includes jack pine, which is a component of the boreal forest,” said Allan Carroll, a research scientist with the Canadian Forest Service.

Mountain pine beetles began invading parts of Alberta four years ago. If the beetles jump from the lodgepole pine to the jack pine, an infestation could wipe out billions of trees all the way to the East Coast, he said.

The Rockies at risk

The frontlines in this battle are the northeastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains.

Jasper National Park warden Dave Smith said because Canadians are so good at preventing fires, the forests are old, weak and susceptible to infestation.

“Thanks in no part to Smokey the Bear. Smokey has done a tremendous disservice to our forest health by promoting the notion all fire is bad.”

Global warming has also helped the pine beetle along, as cold winters can help slow infestations.

If enough infested trees can be removed, it may prevent the kind of destruction British Columbia is experiencing from occurring in Alberta and the rest of Canada, said Carroll.

Decimating forests

The beetles are less than one centimetre long, but they are one of nature’s most efficient predators.

Several thousand beetles burrow under the bark, laying eggs and destroying a valuable, 80-year-old tree within days. When the tens of thousands of eggs hatch, they decimate the next stand.

Alberta has been falling and burning individual trees to kill the bugs, and is planning a large-scale burn in Willmore Wildnerness Park in August.

The federal government is spending $40 million to try to slow the spread of the infestation.

Source: CBC News, Tuesday, July 4, 2006

Alberta residents can fish for free in any public water body in Alberta, outside the national parks, that has an open fishing season on July 8th and 9th. This event coincides with National Fishing Week. Alberta presents two free fishing weekends each year: the summer free fishing weekend and another in February to coincide with Family Day.

When angling, make sure to follow Alberta sportfishing regulations: www.albertaoutdoorsmen.ca/fishingregs/index.html

For more information about Alberta’s fish and fishing in the province, visit the Alberta Sustainable Resource Development website: www.srd.gov.ab.ca/fw/fishing/

Boo, the fugitive bear, spotted with furry friend; Lusty grizzly faces castration if his captors are able to contain him long enough

Boo, the freedom-loving grizzly who has twice busted out of his large wilderness compound, may be having fun in the sun as he cavorts in the wild with a new female companion.

But his lust-life looks to be short-lived. Castration is looming for the powerful young male. That is, if his caretakers can hold him long enough to put an end to his romantic rampages.

To make his second great escape, Boo crashed through a 180-kilogram steel door and stormed over a four-metre-high electrified fence that he managed to deactivate.

Early yesterday morning, helicopter searchers spotted him for the first time since his weekend break for freedom. He was in a remote alpine area six kilometres west of the Rocky Mountain wildlife refuge where he had been kept for the past two years.
Boo was not alone.

“He was found with another grizzly bear, presumably a female. Male grizzlies don’t hang out together,” said Mike Dalzell, spokesman for the Kicking Horse Mountain Resort that runs the refuge.

The same thing happened when Boo went AWOL for the first time earlier this month, albeit in a more genteel manner, by digging underneath the compound fence.

He was soon seen in the company of a female grizzly, at least for the first few of the 19 days he was on the lam.
“We were discussing it over coffee today, trying to decide who was at fault,” joked regional environment manager Wayne Stetski.
“The consensus was that a wanton woman lured poor Boo out of the compound, took advantage of him, then dumped him.”
But Mr. Stetski, along with other grizzly experts, knows that the question of what to do with Boo is a serious matter.
Almost certainly, if the decision is made to capture and bring him back alive, the ultrafrisky grizzly will lose his sexual prowess.
“That’s very high on our list of options,” Mr. Stetski said. “He never exhibited interest in getting out before. Then there was a female on the mountain and the interest definitely increased.
“I’ve been surprised by how strong the attraction was. Neutering would certainly cool him down.”
Mr. Stetski said he is also in awe of the “strength and intelligence and determination” shown by the 4½-year-old bear in freeing himself from a secure area in the wildlife refuge thought to be, like Alcatraz, escape-proof.

For the moment, searchers are merely monitoring Boo’s whereabouts. There are no firm plans to capture him because there is not yet a secure place to house the 480-kilogram grizzly.
“Boo certainly can’t go back where he was until the resort comes up with improvements to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

Experts agree that Boo’s future should not include the wilderness he yearns to roam. They say he is short on survival skills and is a risk to humans because of his familiarity with them during his long captivity.
“He’s become a problem,” said Ken Macquisten, veterinarian for the two young grizzlies currently kept in a large open-air refuge on North Vancouver’s Grouse Mountain.
“It’s sad. Boo didn’t know how good he had it. Now, he will probably have to be kept in a more traditional, fortress-like enclosure.”
Boo has been kept in various wildlife refuges since he was orphaned as a cub, when his mother was shot — illegally — by a hunter.
Mr. Stetski said Boo’s predicament has prompted a lot of philosophical debate about “what’s right and what’s wrong in dealing with grizzly bears.
“It’s a fascinating situation, but it’s a tough one. The upside for Boo is that he’s become a celebrity. And everyone will be watching us, when we finally decide what to do.”

Source: ROD MICKLEBURGH – Globe and Mail, June 28, 2006

Oops! Boo has done it again.

The determined young male grizzly busted loose from captivity for a second time early Sunday morning, less than 48 hours after being nabbed and brought back to a Rocky Mountain wildlife refuge after 19 days on the lam.

It was no ordinary escape.

The 280-kilogram grizzly crashed through a thick steel door, breached two electrified fences he had somehow deactivated, then scaled a final, four-metre-high barrier to reach the wide outdoors.

“He did the impossible,” marvelled Michael Dalzell, spokesman for the Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, which had been containing the powerful bear in its wildlife refuge.

Mr. Dalzell likened Boo’s frantic flight to breaking out of Fort Knox.

“He demolished a 400-pound metal door and scaled a 12-foot [four-metre] fence. I have no idea how. That’s one video I would love to see.”

So the Golden area resort has sent out searchers and a helicopter once again to scour the alpine wilderness for Boo, the bear who yearns to be wild.

Now that Boo has twice taken the freedom road, Mr. Dalzell said the resort has not decided what to do once the 4½ -year-old grizzly has been visually hunted down.

“We will be meeting with conservation officers to discuss the future. At the moment, our focus is just to find him and take it from there.”

Boo’s escapades have become the prime topic of conversation in the coffee shops of Golden, about 20 kilometres away.

“That, and the weather, is all anyone talks about,” mayor Jimmy Doyle said. “Boo’s been back. Now he’s gone again.

“He wanted out. That taste of freedom we all enjoy seems to have got under his skin.”

Boo has been kept in captivity since he was orphaned as a cub, along with his sibling Cari, when their mother was shot by a hunter.

For the past two years, home has been the mountain resort’s self-styled “largest enclosed protected grizzly bear habitat in the world.”

Cari died during hibernation in the winter of 2004. Earlier this month, the lonely Boo escaped by tunnelling under the enclosure’s solid fence.

It was lust at first sight, with Boo immediately taking up with a passing female grizzly he appeared to have whiffed.

But wildlife experts believe Boo is at danger in the wilderness because he has not learned basic survival skills.

At the same time, his familiarity with humans could also put them at risk.

The resort spent 19 days tracking Boo, before searchers were eventually able to lace him with tranquillizers last Friday and transport the muscular bear back to his old residence.

Boo was placed in the refuge’s “winter denning area,” behind the big steel door and the electric fences. To prevent him from digging his way out, the refuge has more than a metre of steel below the fence line, Mr. Dalzell said. “It’s a safe zone for the bear. It’s impenetrable.”

But no one told Boo.

“Saturday night, everything seemed fine. He was very calm, no sign of stress,” Mr. Dalzell said. “Sunday morning, we came back to a trashed denning area and no bear.”

Tracey Henderson of Alberta’s Grizzly Bear Alliance said she is torn over Boo’s fate.

“One part of me says ‘good for you, Boo.’ The other side of me is very worried,” Ms. Henderson said.

“He seems more motivated than ever to be in the wild, but Boo is so used to the presence of humans. A confrontation would just be a matter of time, which could end up disastrously for both. It’s a lose-lose situation.”

In Golden, Mr. Doyle said the community is also split on whether Boo should be brought back or left alone to run free.

“I would need to be convinced that he can be out there [in the wild], but there seems to be some inner instinct in animals that they don’t have to learn,” the mayor said.

“I know we have a cat we raised from a kitten and he’s always bringing dead birds and mice into the house.”

One thing is for sure, Mr. Doyle emphasized, there are no fears in Golden about a rampaging Boo on the loose.

“This is bear country. We’re used to bears. Why, I just saw a couple of small black bears while my wife and I were out for a walk.”

But Boo is a grizzly, it was pointed out to the mayor.

“True, this is not some pussy cat. Grizzlies, they’re the boss. But we’re not worried. I know we came here 38 years ago, and we knew this wasn’t downtown Vancouver.”

Source: ROD MICKLEBURGH – The Globe & Mail

Banff National Park has been the only Canadian destination listed as an affordable getaway for Americans this summer on CNN’s money.com.

This site stated that packages booked before June 30th could result in savings of 40 percent. This site also singles out the Banff Caribou Lodge and Rimrock Resort Hotel, where valuable savings could be accrued when booked early.

In 2004, more than one million Americans made overnight trips to Alberta.

Please contact rocky-peak.com for great package deals on vacations in the Canadian Rockies.

Marmot Basin lift tickets are only $10 on May 1st, their last day of the ski & snowboard season!

UV levels are expected to be about 4% higher than pre-1980 levels this summer, due to the ongoing thinning of the ozone layer, according to Environment Canada scientists.

The ozone layer, in the upper atmosphere, continues to show some depletion over Canada. During the past winter, the ozone layer thinned, on average, by about 5%, worsening to 7% below normal in early spring. This depletion is expected to continue throughout the summer, at slightly reduced levels. These values are compared to the normal thickness of the ozone layer, before 1980, when ozone depletion was first recorded.

Exposure to UV rays from the sun increases the risk of sunburn, skin cancers and cataracts and could weaken the immune system. The increased UV levels expected this summer would add to these risks.

Environment Canada scientists created the UV index in 1992, and it is now used around the world to safeguard people from overexposure to the sun.

Despite a significant decline in the use of ozone-depleting chemicals, ozone loss continues and is particularly severe annually over the Antarctic and in some years over the Arctic. Scientists are concerned that climate change may now be contributing to the depletion of the ozone layer.

The UV index is included in Environment Canada’s daily weather forecast whenever values are expected to be greater than 3. Use the UV Index forecast as a guide and take precautions when exposed to the sun.

For daily weather reports in Canada, please click HERE.

Article from Environment Canada’s World Wide Web Site.

After experiencing temperatures in the twenties (degree centigrade) yesterday, just over night, the clouds came in the covered the Bow Valley with snow again. The golf courses had started to turn green, and the bears had started to wake up, now everything is once again a wintery white.

This is great news for skiers and snowboarders, as Lake Louise, Sunshine and Jasper Marmot Basin are still open and going strong. There are some great last minute deals to get out here, and the ski hills are very quiet this time of year!

Why such a rapid temperature change?

Rapid temperature changes are quite normal here in the Canadian Rockies. They are due to Chinook winds which usually begin with a sudden change in wind direction over the Pacific Ocean, towards the west or southwest, and with a rapid increase in wind speed.

These winds move across B.C. towards the Rockies. As these winds move across the barrier of mountains (the Rockies), they often push a band of clouds in front of them, which are visible on the western horizon. The curvature of the Earth makes this band of clouds appear like an arch. This is often a distinct feature of a Chinook.

These winds are not as obvious in the summer, when the temperature change is not so dramatic. But for now, the post-Chinook situation means great conditions for skiers and snowboards, and an awesome wrap up for a fantastic season.

For last minute deals, please contact rocky-peak Holidays, vacation specialists in the Canadian Rockies.

For current weather conditions, click HERE.

The legendary Warren Miller Entertainment crew from Skitheworld Productions Inc. has just finished filming on the slopes of Castle Mountain Resort in Pincher Creek.

Warren Miller films are known for their incredible skiing and snow boarding manoeuvres in stunning settings around the globe. Fifty million viewers worldwide will see Warren Miller’s annual feature when it is released this fall.

Warren Miller’s other recent Alberta ski flick, Impact, was filmed in the Canadian Rockies in 2004. Impact featured three Alberta ski resorts for the first time in a decade – Sunshine Village, Lake Louise and Jasper Marmot Basin.

The Skitheworld crew began filming, in partnership with Travel Alberta, Monday, April 10 and had finished by Saturday, April 15. Five hand-picked, expert skiers and snowboarders, led by skier Peter Hodgson of Pincher Creek and Calgary snowboarder Joey Vosburgh, starred in the film. Other talent includes rider Dave Basterrechea of Itetchum, Idaho, and skiers Davey Barr and Caroline L’Heureux, both of Whistler, B.C.

Castle Mountain is located two and a half hours south of Calgary, near the Continental Divide. Please contact rocky-peak Holidays for more information.

source: travelalberta.com

It’s getting closer to that time when we dust off our mountain bikes, pump up our tires and put our skis and boards into storage…..well, not quite – there is still about another two months of skiing and riding in the Canadian Rockies!

The closing dates below have now been confirmed:

For resort information please visit Canada-Ski.com.

To catch a few last turns and last minute deals, contact rocky-peak Holidays.