Leadership on Human-Wildlife Coexistence

The death of Bear 148 in 2018 was lamented by the entire Bow Valley community – but it did prompt one very positive thing! Municipal leaders gathered, created the Roundtable on Human Wildlife Coexistence for the Bow Valley – and convened a Technical Working Group that helped draft 28 recommendations how to improve human wildlife coexistence. You can view this far-seeing report on the Town of Canmore’s website.

The Technical Working Group is co-chaired by our Executive Director Gareth Thomson, and the quarterly meetings are attended by Wildsmart Program Director Nick de Ruyter.

 

Current members of the Human-Wildlife Coexistence Technical Working Group. Pictured (clockwise from L to R): Brett Boukall, Whitney Smithers, Caitlin Van Gaal, John Paczkowski, Nick de Ruyter, Katie Morrison, Daniella Rubeling, Debbie Mucha, Dwight Bourdin, Hilary Young, Aaron Szott, Gareth Thomson, Greg Burt, Michael Hay, Peter Scholz

 

On this Technical Working Group we are pleased to work with the following organizations:

  • Alberta Forestry and Parks

  • Alberta Environment and Protected Areas

  • CPAWS Southern Alberta Chapter

  • Public Safety and Emergency Services

  • Municipal District of Bighorn

  • Parks Canada

  • Town of Canmore

  • Town of Banff

  • University of Alberta

  • Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y)