about us

Mountain View BearSmart Society

 

Vision

Mountain View BearSmart Society (MVBS) is a pro-active, progressive organization that works within the community to minimize the potential conflict between humans, bears and other wildlife.

 

Mission

As a not-for-profit society, MVBS strives to promote bear and wildlife awareness through education, public information, and notification systems while remaining neutral on issues relating to bear and wildlife conservation, hunting and trapping. Education is the prime focus for MVBS as a means to reduce human- bear conflict and promote safety for both humans and wildlife. MVBS works in collaboration with residents, tourists, industry, and government agencies to achieve its goals.

 

As people move into what has historically been bear habitat along the eastern slopes of Alberta, combined with bears also moving from public lands eastward onto private lands, interactions between bears and people have become more widespread. In the interest of public safety and conservation, the Alberta BearSmart program was introduced by the Government of Alberta to reduce the number of negative interactions between bears and people. Alberta BearSmart is an important tool to help support communities and other stakeholder groups living, working and recreating in bear country. Failure to gain that support from the people most affected by bears can result in increased human-bear conflicts, increased human-caused bear mortality, and an overall lack of public support for bears in general.

 

MVBS is an integral part of the Alberta BearSmart program which seeks to reduce human-bear conflicts and increase public stewardship of bears in Alberta by providing strategic information and education materials to the public, stakeholders and government agency staff dealing with bears. Stakeholders include local residents, tourists, conservation groups, industry (including oil and gas developers), and agricultural producers. The program is intended to:

  • Reduce the number of  human-bear conflicts, which may result in injury or death to both humans and bears
  • Reduce the number of bear mortalities and translocations that occur as a result of negative interactions
  • Reduce annual costs associated with property damage and management actions to address conflict situations.

In the fall of 2007 a hunter was killed by a grizzly bear on public lands west of Sundre in Clearwater County (CC). In September of 2008, a hunter was killed by a grizzly bear on private lands near the junction of Highway 22 and Bergen Road in Mountain View County (MVC). As a result of these deaths, a large group of concerned citizens and representatives from MVC came together under the guidance of Alberta Environment & Protected Areas (AEPA) to seek solutions to human-bear conflicts in the county. It was clear from the reaction of county residents to the second death that they did not realize that grizzly bears were present so far to the east of public lands and that they did not know how to respond correctly to an encounter with a bear. MVBS was created under the Alberta BearSmart Program in November 2008 to address those concerns and was incorporated as a not for profit society in 2009.

 

Our original members were drawn from the residents of MVC, councilors and staff from MVC Council, and staff from AEPA. In March 2020, CC Council joined MVBS as a partner and appointed councilors and staff as members to our society board. It is imperative that MVBS maintains the support of and involvement from the county residents, the local county and town municipalities, AEPA biologists, Justice & Solicitor General Fish & Wildlife Officers, and Parks Conservation Officers in order to continue to be a successful BearSmart Community.

 

MVBS has been operating for 15 years and our prime focus is on education. Our bear safety and awareness programs also include cougars, wolves, coyotes and elk (all manner of human-wildlife conflict). Our projects are designed to increase public knowledge of and support for bear/wildlife safety and awareness in the residents of MVC and CC as well as adjoining counties. Our services are in high demand and each year sees increased requests from county residents, community groups, and industry for our presentations/workshops and our weekly bear activity reports. We have done events as far north as Drayton Valley and as far south as Priddis.

 

MVBS delivers 12 or more bear and wildlife safety presentations/workshops annually to over 3,000 people – school children make up slightly more than half of those people. These events are specifically targeted to local stakeholders including residents, acreage owners, ranch families, bee keepers, recreation groups, tourists, and other groups that live, work and recreate in areas with bears and other large carnivores. Our education programs focus on conflict prevention issues, how to remove or secure attractants, how to avoid encounters, what to do during an encounter, and how to effectively use bear spray.

 

Our events encourage the use of best management practices by residents for human-bear conflict prevention that include securing attractants through the use of bear-proof garbage systems, electric fence, sea cans, bear-proof grain storage, removal of natural vegetation and fruit trees from developed areas, and deadstock management. This helps to ensure that all members of the public do not experience safety and property damage concerns from bears and other large carnivores. This reduction in negative interactions with bears, particularly on private lands, will help to maintain tolerance levels for bears, especially for grizzly bears.

 

OUR PROJECTS, PROGRAMS & OBJECTIVES

Public Education & Awareness

  • develop and maintain programs and activities that raise awareness about bears, their ecology and habits; reduce human-bear conflicts; and increase human safety in bear country
  • publish safety/awareness messages in local publications and on local radio stations
  • hold or attend events where we set up our display booth, provide a safety message or presentation, provide information on the society, and conduct bear spray training sessions to residents, community groups or industry
  • MVBS branded items and AEPA BearSmart Guides are distributed at all events

MVBS will hold an event wherever we get a request. In addition, we hold a Family Day at Elkton Valley Campground on the May long weekend with kids crafts, kids treasure hunt, bear and cougar safety and biology demonstrations, bear spray training, and guest speakers. We also set up our booth annually at MVC Aggie Days in Cremona, Sundre Petroleum Operators Group Neighbour’s Day in Sundre, Rural Crime Watch Trade Show in Olds, and similar events.

 

School Education

  • hold safety/awareness presentations in April/May to students from Kindergarten to Grade 6 at Cremona School, Sundre River Valley School, schools in Rocky Mountain House, and other schools in MVC and CC
  • set up our display booth and provide a safety message in May to students at Safety Day in Rocky Mountain House
  • MVBS branded items and other giveaway items are distributed at all events as a reminder to ‘Be BearSmart’

MVBS has developed a series of bear and cougar safety/awareness presentations for students which deal with the differences between grizzly bears and black bears, how to avoid encounters with bears and other wildlife, how to react if one sees a bear, and things that attract bears that people shouldn’t have in their yards.

 

Education Kit

  • maintain a professional display booth – bear-themed back wall, vinyl banner, tablecloth, and laminated information sheets
  • maintain 2 education kits – rug mounts, skulls, paw prints, and scats of grizzly bear, black bear, cougar, wolf and coyote
  • maintain 2 bear on a track systems to provide bear spray training
  • maintain a supply of AEPA BearSmart Guides, pamphlets and reports for distribution, as well as MVBS branded items and other giveaway items

Website & Communication

  • develop and maintain systems to advise the community of bear sightings and incidents
  • maintain the society website in order to post bear, cougar and wolf sightings in MVC and CC
  • prepare and issue a weekly email report of those sightings
  • maintain the email list
  • analyze the sightings data and provide an annual report to each county council

In 2008, county residents indicated that they wanted a means to let one another know where and when they saw bears even if the bears were not causing a conflict. Fish & Wildlife is the provincial organization to call if any member of the public has a conflict with a bear or other wildlife however, there are not enough officers, staff or time for them to deal with mere sightings. MVBS took on the role to receive and post these sightings on our website. County residents are eager to contribute their sightings to our report and to spread the information and safety messaging to their neighbours. MVBS also appreciates the time and effort on the part of Fish & Wildlife to keep us up to date on the human-bear conflicts they deal with so we can post that information to our website.

 

Bear, cougar and other wildlife sightings are posted to the website as they are received from the public and Fish & Wildlife during the year. A weekly bear activity report is emailed out every Friday during the months bears are active outside their dens – usually from March/April to October/November. The first bear activity report of the year is sent when the first bear sighting is received. As of December 6, 2022, there are over 1,295 people on our email list.

 

MVBS will also respond to email requests to identify bear species from photographs, to identify paw prints, scat, etc and to answer questions on wildlife biology and management.

 

There are many excellent websites focused on bear biology and management so rather than duplicate existing information on our website, please check out these following links:

Bear Hazard Assessments & Human-Bear Management Plans

  • identify sites, areas, trails, natural and non-natural foods and attractants, and practices that have historic, existing, and potential human-bear conflict in the county

With financial support from AEPA, in 2009 MVBS conducted door to door interviews with MVC residents in high bear use areas. Paul Fraser and Jane Bicknell wrote the Bear Hazard Assessment report for MVC. Arin MacFarlane Dyer and Simon Dyer wrote the Bear Hazard Assessment report for Nordegg. A county wide bear hazard assessment on private lands and/or further individual community assessments may be required for CC. The second step in this process is to continue to work with AEPA to develop and implement human-bear management plans to reduce human-bear conflict in each county.

( MVC Bear Hazard Assessment – 58 pages )

( Nordegg Bear Hazard Assessment – 36 pages )

 

Conflict Mitigation & Resolution

  • provide information on and promote the use of bear-proof garbage bins, electric fencing (including the expertise/assistance to erect it), and livestock carcass composting as a means to protect specific rural sites of human-bear conflict in the counties
  • promote the inclusion of by-laws in county and town municipalities to manage garbage and other food sources that may attract bears into the community

MVBS, in participation with AEPA and the two counties, has held a number of events and workshops on electric fencing and carcass composting and has provided fencing supplies on loan or for purchase.

 

Signage

  • erect a variety of ‘You are in Bear Country’ signs on county controlled roadways to remind residents, workers, and tourists they are in bear country.

In conjunction with MVC and AEPA, a variety of road signage was produced and erected during 2009 to 2011 in the west portion of MVC. We are limited to erecting signs on county controlled roadways. MVBS received a grant and produced large 4 ft x 8 ft ‘You Are In Bear Country’ signs for the major paved roadways heading west from Highway 22 – the signs are located on the Burnt Timber Road, Bergen Road, Coal Camp Road, Burnstick Lake Road, and also at the fire hall in Water Valley, Elkton Valley Campground, and the Bearberry Community Hall. MVC produced and erected small 2 ft square ‘Bear Country’ signs on the gravel Township Roads heading west of the Highway 22 (including a few in the Eagle Hill area). These original signs had a bear silhouette but they were all stolen within the first couple of years. MVC reproduced the small sign without the bear and re-erected them in 2016 – so far they appear to be staying put. AEPA also provided 2 ft square ‘You Are in Grizzly Country’ signs that MVC Council erected in their campgrounds. Since CC joined MVBS, both the large 4 ft x 8 ft signs and the 2 ft square signs have been provided to them to erect on their county controlled roadways and in their campgrounds.

 

Membership & Fund Raising

MVBS is always looking for new members. We meet regularly at an in-person potluck supper or over Zoom to brainstorm. You don’t need to know a lot about bears, just bring a willingness to learn and to get involved in the education and communication tasks. Please come out and join us. MVBS would like to participate in larger fund raising events, such as casinos, but do not have the membership numbers yet to do so.

For more information on our society, to participate in our meetings, or volunteer for events: membership@mountainviewbearsmart.com

 

Within Alberta, there are other communities working towards the goals of keeping humans safe and bears in the wild:

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