BOW VALLEY – Fencing recreation grounds and schoolyards in a bid to avoid encounters between people and wildlife is up for discussion by local politicians in Banff and Canmore.
Proposals to build wildlife exclusion fencing at the Banff recreation grounds and Canmore’s Lawrence Grassi Middle School-Centennial Park area are before the two councils as part of their respective budget discussions.
The proposals fall out of the Bow Valley human-wildlife coexistence taskforce’s report, which recommends removing attractants, or preventing wildlife from accessing attractants, including using fencing to keep ungulates out of grass
playing fields.
Officials say elk congregate on fields and green spaces in both communities, which has the potential to draw carnivores into communities looking
for prey.
“Playing fields are effectively salad bars for ungulates and essentially bring them into contact with people, but it also creates false habitat,” said Darren Enns, the Town of Banff’s development services manager, who sat on the co-existence committee.
“Generally speaking, we’ve always talked about living with wildlife, but the committee talked about steering the conversation toward living near wildlife and that’s a pivotal shift.”
The price tag to fence the entire rec grounds in Banff would be about $175,000, while spot fencing certain areas there, such as playgrounds, would cost approximately $132,000.
Should Banff council support this project, Enns said administration would prepare an environmental assessment for Parks Canada’s consideration that compared spot fencing at the rec grounds to fencing the entire perimeter.
“The possible displacement of elk to other areas would be an issue, as well as if animals get stuck inside the fence, how do they get out? I think those are probably the critical ones,” he said. “Fencing is an ongoing discussion with Parks Canada.”
Parks Canada officials say they support fencing where it is needed to address a specific hazard that cannot be satisfactorily mitigated in any other way.
They say many wildlife species need to move freely around the landscape to find habitat and to rear their young, noting the Banff townsite is already constricted by highways and other built structures, as well as rivers and mountain slopes.
“Broad scale fencing would become an additional constraint to natural wildlife movement,” said Justin Brisbane, spokesperson for Banff National Park, in an email.
“Additionally, the opportunity to see wildlife in proximity is one of the reasons people choose
to live in, or visit this area.”
Brisbane said fencing is only one tool among many to protect people and wildlife from coming into conflict with each other, and it can have negative environmental effects such as constricting natural wildlife movement.
“Other key tools include public education, strategic design and landscaping, and these do not have the same disadvantages,” he said.
“There are some places where fencing will make practical sense, such as around tennis courts or the dog park; and other areas where design and landscaping can be used to mitigate the hazard.”
In Canmore, the proposal is for a 2.4-metre tall fence at Lawrence Grassi Middle School (LGMS) and Centennial Park, which is similar to wildlife fencing at Banff Elementary School and Jasper’s schools and public parks.
Twelve community green spaces were identified as possible sites for fencing, but Alberta Environment and Parks indicated LGMS and Centennial Park are the top priority.
A final alignment of the fence has not been established, but a tentative plan is being discussed with AEP and Canadian Rockies Public Schools.
Canmore’s draft budget identifies $340,000 for 2019, which includes a $75,000 provincial grant, to deal with issues coming out of the human-wildlife coexistence report. The bulk of the money is earmarked for the fence.
“There has been an ongoing issue with elk on the green fields there and Alberta Environment and Parks has serious concerns about this recurring situation,” said Lori Rissling Wynn, Canmore’s sustainability coordinator and development planner.
The fence at LGMS and Centennial Park would essentially be a trial before fencing other areas in future years.
“There’s certainly unknowns with respect to how elk will respond to having this part of town excluded to them … certainly it’s a great opportunity for us to learn some lessons,” said Rissling Wynn.
“The intent would be to fence additional green space areas in town in subsequent years, so Millennium and playing fields at OLS and École Notre-Dame des Monts.”
