Data just doesn't support Alberta's grizzly bear hunt

By PETER ZIMMERMAN
ENGO representative
Alberta Grizzly Bear Recovery Team
Calgary, Alberta

The Alberta government prides itself on having a strong entrepreneurial bias and policies friendly to the business community. The Alberta Advantage is all about giving business an unfettered environment in which to grow and prosper for the benefit of community and individuals.

However, in the context of wise business practice, Minister of Sustainable Resources Development David Coutts' recent decision to proceed with a grizzly bear hunt this year – even a limited one – fails miserably when we apply the "business test" to his decision.

Suppose you were an investor, and a friend who made widgets asks you to invest in his company. Being a careful and prudent person, you conduct a very comprehensive and complete market survey using the most scientific and credible survey methodology available.

Now let's further suppose those results came back and indicated that not only was the market weak for widgets, but in fact your prospective sales would be one-half or even one-third of your break-even threshold. On top of that data, all the investment experts you consulted advised you the widget market was in the toilet and would probably not recover anytime soon. Would you invest? Of course not – you’d be a fool to invest.

Yet this is precisely what the Minister has done; invested part of our natural capital, our province's grizzly bear population, against all the evidence of his "market survey" and against the advice of most leading experts in this field.

The Endangered Species Conservation Committee (ESCC), a panel of experts, whose job it is to advise the minister on the status of sensitive species in Alberta, has again and again recommended the Alberta grizzly population be listed as "threatened" because their numbers are too low, human-caused mortality rates are excessively high, and habitat conditions are less than optimal.

The Grizzly Bear Recovery Team, a multi-stakeholder group that includes several of the province’s leading experts in grizzly bear behavior and biology, advised the Minister to immediately suspend the bear hunt. The most recent DNA census data (the "market survey"), which uses the most sophisticated methodology available, almost certainly indicates there are far fewer bears in the woods than previous population estimates, which were not very high to begin with. Given this expert advice and the results of the most credible population survey, does the decision to continue hunting grizzly bears make even the slightest bit of sense?

It is important to understand that suspending the hunt is far from the most critical action the government can take to reduce long-term bear mortality and start the population on the road to recovery. Other recommendations in the recovery plan –such as the creation of special “Grizzly Conservation Areas” where special operational rules for industry, reduced road densities, and restricted access for motorized recreation, – are far more important to the long-term recovery of the population. However, implementing these actions will take time, further consultation and money.

Suspending the hunt, on the other hand, is an action that can be implemented immediately, with no cost or pain to the overwhelming majority of Albertans. In fact, it is really not an action at all but a non-action – we can choose not to hunt. All it would have taken is a simple decision by the minister – no hunt this year.

It would immediately reduce bear mortality as well as demonstrate commitment, integrity, and sincerity on the part of the government, something in terribly short supply these last few weeks as the Fish and Wildlife Department attempted to silence Gord Stenhouse, one of the province’s most respected grizzly bear researchers and the Chair of the Recovery team. If the government can not bring themselves to undertake this one simple positive action, suspending the hunt, what hope is there they will follow through on any of the other much more complex recommendations in the recovery plan?

The minister is on record as saying that hunting grizzlies is necessary to make them more wary of humans and therefore acts to safeguard people who work and recreate in grizzly country. This is a long held myth for which there is absolutely no scientific evidence, and no jurisdiction in North America - except Alberta - seriously promotes hunting grizzlies as a public safety policy.

I have worked in the oil and gas industry in this province for over 30 years. I have also been a part of the conservation community for much of this time, and a member of the Grizzly Bear Recovery team since its inception. I have rarely seen industry members and conservationists been so in agreement on an issue, and so collectively frustrated by the outcome. Against all the science, advice from most experts and the collective will of the forest industry, oil and gas industry, environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs), and most of the population, judging by the number of letters and e-mails on this issue, another hunt will occur this year. A wise investment of our natural capital? I think not.