There is a free film and interpretive talk on the subject of staying safe in bear country.

Presentations are held on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at the Banff Information Centre, in the downstairs theatre at 7 pm until Thanksgiving, October 8th.

We are now having our first snowfall of the 2006/2007 ski season and the first ski hills are not scheduled to open until early November!

This is a good indication that this season is going to be a great one!

For live mountain cameras at Sunshine Village and other ski resorts of the Canadian Rockies, click HERE.

For an up-to-date weather forecast, click HERE

Visit www.rockypeak.ca to book your Canadian winter ski or snowboard vacation!

The elk mating season, or rut, takes place in Banff National Park during September and October. Although they are a marvel to watch and listen to, bull elk become extremely aggressive protecting their harems during the rut. Male elk may charge without warning at anyone and anything that gets too close.

How to stay safe during the rut:

• The key to safely viewing elk is to respect their wildness and need for space.
• Keep your distance from elk. Stay back at least 30 metres (3 bus lengths)
• Never get between a male and the females.
• Keep your dog on a leash.

If you are not sure what an elk looks like, visit this photo gallery for this animal and many others found in the Canadian Rockies: http://www.rocky-peak.com/summer-photo-gallery-animals.html

Please report all sightings of elk in the Banff townsite and any conflicts between people and elk to park wardens at 762-1470 (24 hour Dispatch). Park wardens have resumed their fall aversive conditioning program on elk found in town to keep the animals wary and to reduce their chances of becoming habituated to urban areas.

Large fires in Washington State caused the Canadian Rockies to be a little smokey last week. The fire is estimated at over 60,000 hectares. Jasper National Park has aided fire fighting efforts in Washington by deploying fire personnel. For more information including an informative map of all the fires burning, please click on this link: https://nofc1.cfsnet.nfis.org/mapserver/cwfis/index.phtml

Please remember that the fire danger in the Canadian Rockies is presently rated as high and will be until weather conditions change. If hot, dry weather continues there is a possibility of the fire danger reaching extreme.

Want to learn more about the Mountain Pine Beetle? Visit this new website which has audio clips and a virtual tour of the beetle hot spots.

Check out the beetle facts at: www.pc.gc.ca/dpp-mpb

Book WestJet through rocky-peak Holidays by September 6th 2006 and save at least 30% off on travel within Canada and to the U.S. until December 15, 2006. Conditions apply.

On Thursday, August 10, 2006, Transport Canada announced increased security at all Canadian airports following a major counter-terrorism operation in the United Kingdom.

As a result of this situation, Transport Canada has implemented restrictions for carry-on baggage. Until further notice, no liquids, gels or creams will be allowed on board any aircraft, either on your person or in carry-on baggage. Liquids or gels in containers of any size include: all beverages, shampoo, suntan lotion, creams, toothpaste, hair gel, and other items of similar consistency. These items can be placed in checked baggage but will be at the guest’s own risk. Any of the above mentioned items will be confiscated at pre-board security screening. Guests may bring aboard baby formula, breast milk, if a baby or small child is travelling. Prescription medicine with a name that matches the guest’s ticket, insulin and essential other non-prescription medicines are allowed. At time of check-in, WestJet customer service agents will give guests the option to remove any restricted items from their carry-on baggage and place them in their checked baggage. These restrictions currently apply to all flights including transborder into the U.S., domestic and international. Due to possible delays at security screening, guests are advised to check in a minimum of two hours prior to departure.

All these restrictions are subject to change. For updated information on these or other Government of Canada security requirements please visit; www.tc.gc.ca or www.catsa-acsta.gc.ca or phone 1-888-294-2202.

If you have any questions regarding your travel arrangements with WestJet, please contact them at 1-800-538-5696.

There has been a lot of concern about the spread of the mountain pine beetle. We have put together some beetle facts on this little critter, sourced mostly from the Government of British Columbia’s website.

• The life span of an individual mountain pine beetle is about one year.

• Each mountain pine beetle is the size of a grain of rice.

• Pine beetle larvae spend the winter under bark. They continue to feed in the spring and transform into pupae in June and July.

• Adult mountain pine beetles emerge from an infested tree over the course of the summer and into early fall.

• The mountain pine beetle transmits a fungus that stains a tree’s sapwood blue.

• Comprehensive testing has confirmed that the blue stain caused by the beetle has no effect on wood’s strength properties.

• These insects have already devoured an area of B.C.’s forest the size of Iceland.

• The mountain pine beetle infestation will have economic implications in the future for 30 communities around the province.

• 25,000 families in British Columbia are having their livelihoods impacted by the beetle infestation.

• The mountain pine beetle prefers mature timber. After 80 years, lodgepole pine trees are generally classed as being mature.

• B.C. is believed to have three times more mature lodgepole pine than it did over 90 years ago, mainly because equipment and techniques for protecting forests against wildfire have greatly improved over time

• Cold weather kills mountain pine beetle larvae. Sustained temperatures of -25 Celsius in the early fall or late spring, and -40 Celsius in the winter are needed to control populations.

• Hot and dry summers leave pine drought-stressed and more susceptible to attack by the mountain pine beetle.

• The start of the current mountain pine beetle infestation in B.C.’s central Interior can be traced back to 1993.

• The beetle has been spreading east across the Rocky Mountains since 2002, mostly in Willmore Wilderness Park and areas around Canmore.

• A hectare is considered infested if it contains more than 10 beetle-attacked trees.

• Mountain pine beetle outbreaks develop regardless of property lines. They can appear in mountain subdivisions, backyards and municipal parks the same as in wilderness areas.

• The mountain pine beetle in B.C. is as far-ranging as Fort St. James to the north; Cranbrook to the east; Houston to the west; and Manning Park, located between Hope and Princeton, to the south.

• The direction and spread rate of a beetle infestation is impossible to predict exactly.

• In addition to B.C. and Alberta, the mountain pine beetle can be found in 12 western American states, and even Mexico.

• Scientists believed that the mountain pine beetle could only survive and thrive in lodge pole pine. But now they think, and have seen evidence, that mountain pine beetle can survive and thrive in jack pine

• If the beetles make the jump to the jack pine, an infestation could wipe out billions of trees in the boreal forest all the way to the East Coast.

• The mountain pine beetle has been spotted in Grande Prairie, further north in Alberta than experts had expected. Grande Prairie is 455 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.

• Alberta’s beetle hotline number is 1-877-927-BUGS (2847) for the Edmonton area. Signs of a pine beetle problem include a brown crystallized substance on the trunk of the tree, as well as sawdust around the base.

Just two short months after its initial launch, backcountry enthusiasts have bombarded trailex.org with more than 10,000 hits.

The site, designed to be used and perused by those heading into the Bow Valley backcountry, has been a big hit, said Heath McCroy, Wednesday

(Aug. 2).

“Right at the start, we were seeing 300 hits a day, so we thought it would grow fairly quickly. And so far, there’s been no negative reaction. We’ve had mostly positive input and feedback. I think even people who were sceptical have come around.”

The site was funded and created by McCroy and friends Jean McAllister, Maria Hawkins, Liz Baker, Jennifer Statham and Tom Wolfe. McCroy’s wife, Isabelle Dubé, was mauled by a grizzly bear and killed while cross-country running in June, 2005 and Trailex was created in response to the tragedy.

Users are able to post their own sightings on the site, after registering with Trailex, and anyone may view other postings related to bears, cougars, wildlife in general and trail and area closures.

Had similar information been available when Dubé went running with friends Hawkins and McAllister in 2005, McCroy has vowed, tragedy, in all likelihood, would have been avoided. A simple check of bear sightings would have caused his wife to choose another area in which to run.

“We’ve had no problems with bogus input or sightings,” he said. “Nobody, to my knowledge has been abusing the site at all. I think the site’s been good to help the community become more aware.

“I think people are now aware of how many bears and cougars are being sighted out there. Safety is a huge factor, but so is awareness. It helps tighten the network of the trail user community.”

Later this month, Discovery Channel is producing a documentary on bear/human conflict and Canmore, along with an Alaskan town, are to be featured. The U.S. broadcaster will interview McCroy and others about their experiences with bears; the program will air at an unspecified future date.

Soure: Dave Whitfield – Rocky Mountain Outlook