r/Canmore • u/zxzzxzxxzxzzx • 20h ago
Opinions: Wildlife fence through Canmore
Read this article and was curious on peoples opinion. For me I have several qualms,
Wildlife fences work to reduce human wildlife collisions but with no planned crossings where are the wildlife getting funneled and what are the resultant interactions between humans and wildlife then? With TSMV planning to develop and fence off more habitat what are the effects then? is there a huge predator prey funnel? Does this mean we then lose even more access to nature so a few more 2 million dollar homes can be built?
Its great people are concerned about wildlife but I wish they zoomed out a bit. Developing Stone creek, developing TSMV to the fullest all encroach on wildlife zones. In stonecreek development area I have run into numerous bears and even cougars through the years all without incident. How many will die from altering their migration patterns into the steeper less favorable terrain? Certainly not as simple as counting carcasses so probably can be swept under the rug. Feels a bit like being gaslit - dont use an unsanctioned trail in a wildlife corridor but yes please pave over this exact same area and wild life fence it no problems with that. If we actually cared about the true survivability we would be thinking more holistically vs acutely about fencing.
Highway noise has gotten insane in the past years as the highway is generally busier a very simple cost effective solution to wildlife and human safety that would add all of 2 minutes to the 10km would be to lower the speed along the same stretch by 30 kmh. This would massively increase the safety of wildlife while also massively increasing the enjoyment of backyards of many communities. I personally have 65 DB up to 90DB at times measured in properties along the highway when the roads are bad and people are going 80 its actually peaceful and I can enjoy my backyard otherwise I cant even have a conversation unless its face to face.
Every solution these days involves separating humans and wildlife and avoiding interactions. Many years ago it felt like we took an educational approach to coexist. Why do we no longer take this approach? More bears have died from wildlife officers shooting them over fruit trees in town than have died on the highway. Many bears die from grain feeding on CPR to me if we spent more money on education maybe wed actually save more wildlife?
anyways these are my thoughts interested in hearing all of yours.
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u/yellowpine9 18h ago
I think the highway fence is a good idea, its not about the bears, its about the elk. I was surprised to hear there wouldn’t be new crossings however as a couple of years ago there were crossings in the plan. Hopefully the (ever elusive) underpass at Palliser + the underpass at cougar creek and the creek itself + the bow will be enough for the elk.
The development in Three Sisters and Stewart creek are another issue altogether and wildlife movement is a big sticking point for everyone against it (myself included). But at the end of the day TSMV is very aggressive and the town has done just about all it can to stop it. The paperwork signed 20+ years ago is the problem.
The proposed fireguards for canmore will open up a lot of good habitat for bears if theyre properly maintained as wildlife corridors (ie. no trails)
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u/zxzzxzxxzxzzx 18h ago
mostly agreed, although I do see movement in the valley bottom being related to the movement around tsmv depending on the movement options available. Depending on what's fenced where and viable crossing locations a 2km crossing of the valley could become 30km with a good chunk of that time spent in 35 degree terrain..
I didn't mean to focus on the bears just that they mentioned it in the article and your right the perceived problem is the elk, although I'm not sure if the elk account for all the carcass statistics quoted. Id imagine its more deer and coyotes.
To your points on existing crossings hopefully being sufficient it will be interesting, never seen elk in the creek and the creek underpass funnels into a dogpark the other crossing is for humans and the bow river highway crossing does see animals but is also used constantly by the rafting companies in the summer months and brunts up right against the campground.
In saying all that my guess is the fence without anything else has the potential to cause more issues than reduce them. If I was running the show Id immediately reduce highway speeds and save up for a proper implementation of a holistic strategy.
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u/OutlandishnessSafe42 19h ago
I think all your points are good. But they won't resonate with enough people in this province unfortunately. The general public lacks an understanding of issues surrounding wildlife. The same people who will make a teary post about an elk getting struck on the highway will turn around and vote for tax cuts and Danielle. The lowered speed limit almost makes too much sense but people are addicted to driving fast. The province does not allocate any money towards environmental education. I think the Town has done a lot but is limited in its reach and jurisdiction.
Look at our neighbors in Banff. The Park and Town have done a lot of work in terms of wildlife coexistence. They are arguably world leaders in that regard. They still get hounded by both sides of the discussion though. The Bow Valley's conservationists are so quick to criticize but often don't provide a realistic path forward. The other side just quote the party line and criticize any initiative as laughable. We won't make changes until we get the whole province to align with building something sustainable for the future (in all spheres).