Press release from www.defenders.org

Alberta's small grizzly bear population occupies a remnant of its former range. In 2002, the provincial government rejected its own Endangered Species Conservation Committee's recommendation to list the grizzly as "threatened" and now has allowed two seasons of hunting the great bear. A draft "recovery plan" falls far below what Alberta's grizzlies will need to survive. The hunt should be stopped, the province's grizzlies should be listed as threatened, and an effective recovery plan should be funded and implemented. Please visit the action center at http://denlines.org sign up and go to alert #365 to learn more and take action to help save Canada's grizzly bears.

When you sign up http://denlines.org you can send a beautiful message like the one below. That was written by denlines and signed by me.

Dear Premier Klein and Minister Coutts,

The grizzly bear is a Canadian icon, and nowhere is that more apparent than in Alberta. Visitors come to Alberta’s Banff National Park from around the world to enjoy the spectacular scenery and perhaps catch a glimpse of the great bear. In fact, 2001 was celebrated as The Year of the Great Bear throughout
western Alberta. And yet, only one year later, Alberta’s Endangered Species Conservation Committee (ESCC) recommended listing the province’s grizzly population as threatened, because of the small number of bears in Alberta, relative isolation and the lowest reproductive output in North America, excessive human-caused mortality, and habitat losses to human development and
activity.

I respectfully urge you to suspend the grizzly bear hunt immediately, support designating Alberta’s grizzly bear population as threatened, and implement an effective plan that will recover the province’s grizzlies.

Mounting evidence supports the threatened designation that was
recommended three years ago:

• The best recent estimates suggest a provincial population of about 700 independent bears, with approximately 215 of these on national park lands (this is even fewer than estimated by the ESCC when they recommended threatened status!)
• Seismic lines, roads, logging, motorized recreation and other human development continue to destroy and compromise grizzly habitat and encourage potentially lethal contact with humans in critical portions of grizzly range
• Nineteen eminent scientists, including Dr. Stephen Herrero, Dr. David Schindler, and Dr. J. Christopher Haney of Defenders of Wildlife recently urged you to list the province’s grizzlies as threatened before the bears emerge from their dens and,
• The Alberta Grizzly Bear Team has recommended suspending the hunt to speed recovery.

Time may be running out for Alberta’s grizzly bears. I hope you
will heed the recommendations of your own advisory committees
and the consensus of leading carnivore scientists. Now is the
time to suspend the hunt and begin to recover this truly threatened species. I look forward to your response to these concerns.

Sincerely,

Marcus Martin