Waterton Lakes National Park is situated in the Rocky Mountains in the far southwest corner of Alberta. This is a dramatic landscape where peaks rise out of prairies. It is home to a string of clear glacial lakes, canyons, waterfalls and an incredible diversity of wildlife, from bighorn sheep to black bears, and wildflowers, including delicate purple lupins and mountain lady’s slipper. The community of Waterton Park, a collection of shops, hotels and restaurants on the shores of Upper Waterton Lake, makes a popular base for exploration. From there, a network of scenic roads and trails reach into the mountainous surroundings, where exceptional hiking, wildlife watching and more awaits. A range of hiking trails, including many shorter hikes, reveal both prairie and mountain landscapes. Abundant wildlife and wildflowers, epic scenery and easy access come together in this unique UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Situated in southwestern Alberta, the Waterton Biosphere Reserve includes the Waterton Lakes National Park at its core. From there, it extends north and east to include public forestry reserves and private ranches, farms and residential lands. This landscape is home to a number of large carnivore species. In the last decade, carnivores, particularly grizzly bears, have started moving further east, from mountain and foothill public lands into private agricultural lands. As they expand their presence in and use of these habitats, conflicts with humans are escalating, affecting the livelihood of ranchers and farmers and the personal
safety of all residents.
The Waterton Biosphere Reserve has initiated a process with landowners, land managers and other local partners to reduce human-carnivore conflicts, decrease human-caused mortality of large carnivores and enhance public safety. It also seeks to reduce economic repercussions to agricultural producers as a result of sharing their land with large carnivores and, ultimately, to achieve a balance between large carnivore conservation and agriculture in
southwestern Alberta. The Waterton Biosphere Reserve Carnivore Working Group (CWG) was
tasked with creating a long-term vision, goals and a plan to reduce human-carnivore conflict issues in southwestern Alberta. The CWG worked with landowners and other stakeholders to support landowner projects and efforts to reduce human carnivore conflicts, to develop and deliver a communication and education strategy and to build strong collaboration among
producers, agencies, government and other stakeholders.
Photo: Image taken from allglacier.com (http://cdn.allglacier.com/images/content/4835_4981_Waterton_Lakes_National_Park_Canada_md.jpg)