Wed, October 24, 2007 Grizzlies’ end feared UPDATED: 2007-10-24 03:09:25 MST  By PABLO FERNANDEZ, SUN MEDIA

 As Albertans contemplate a windfall in oil revenue, concerned Calgarians yesterday called for some of that cash to be spent in protecting grizzly habitat and in implementing endangered species legislation. In a province rich with oil and gas revenue, a zoo will soon be the only place where future Albertans will see grizzly bears unless the government places the bruins in the endangered species list, said Nigel Douglas, conservation specialist with the Alberta Wilderness Association. “(Today), Premier (Ed) Stelmach will speak to Albertans about how billions of dollars will be carved up between the oil companies and the government,” he said. “We fear that once again, a premier of this province will have nothing to say about how resource development is carving up the wild lands of Alberta with devastating effect.”

“Last week, Sustainable Resource Minister Ted Morton did show some understanding of the issues, but … there was not one new cent committed by the minister to save the grizzly, probably the best indicator of how little this matters to government.” The grizzly population in Alberta has dwindled to 500, effectively putting the survival of the species in the province in peril, said Douglas. The biggest threat to its survival is the industrialization of Alberta’s wild spaces and the lack of legislation protecting grizzly habitat, he said. Douglas described the grizzly as the canary in the mine, stating the health of the iconic bruin’s population is a gauge of the state of the wilderness in the province as a whole and that several other species are also threatened because of the government’s inability to protect fragile habitats.

“The grizzly is in trouble because of man-made actions,” said Douglas, adding the bear’s habitat is increasingly crisscrossed by a growing network of roads and power lines, while sprawling industrial tracks, which are temporary in nature, are never decommissioned and eventually become public roads. “The government has acknowledged there is a problem — what it hasn’t acknowledged is the urgency,” Douglas said. The province disputes the bear population has dwindled to such low levels.