Hunting and environmental groups are once again debating the re-instatement of the Alberta grizzly bear hunt, however the province said they won’t make a decision any time soon.

The Alberta Fish and Game Association (AFGA) pressed the government to end the grizzly bear hunt last week, stating that a spate of grizzly bear attacks this summer proves there are enough grizzlies in the province to justify a return to the hunt. AFGA president Quinton Bochar said the province simply needs to lower the number of grizzlies allowed to be shot in the province, not ban the practice outright.

“Hunting is an effective management tool,” Bochar said. “Before the ban, the average number of grizzly bear tags issued was between 50 and 60. But the harvest was between seven and 12.”

Bochar said habitat fragmentation is the number one cause of grizzly bear mortality. Increased oil, gas and logging operations have eliminated prime grizzly bear habitat, he said, however hunters are being targeted for the decreased numbers, not oil or logging groups.

“I don’t think there should have been a moratorium in the first place. There was no scientific basis for suspending the hunt,” Bochar said. “If they had scientific reasoning and not a political target, we’d support the ban.”

Estimates of Alberta’s grizzly bear population range as low as about 400 bears, prompting calls to place grizzlies on the endangered species list. However, Bochar said that if the bears are taken in a geographical range to include British Columbia and Montana, there are many more bears. He estimates there are 17,000 grizzly bears in British Columbia, with many that pass into Alberta. 

Jim Pissot, the Canadian representative of Defenders of Wildlife said the call by AFGA is self serving, and is confused by their push to reinstate the hunt.

“Much of their work is well-founded, but here they’ve taken leave of their senses,” Pissot said. “If the DNA data available, praised by experts as the best method in the world, if those aren’t good enough, what is?”

While he agrees loss of habitat is the top cause of bear mortality, Pissot said the call by the AFGA is based on a “mythic past” and not on hard data. He’s anticipating the release of a study by the Hinton-based Foothills Research Institute, which aimed to collect DNA samples of every grizzly bear in Alberta.

Pissot says he’s also disappointed minister of sustainable development Ted Morton is considering anecdotal evidence collected by the Willmore Wilderness Foundation, which is based on bear sightings.

“The public wants a voice of reason and conservation to counter this ludicrous call by the AFGA. The minister has embraced anecdotal information and the government has taken no steps to protect grizzly bears. They are dragging their seat on grizzly recovery.”

The AFGA is taking a lot of criticism from environmental groups for their stance, however Bochar remains unfazed. He said hunters are true conservationists who have helped wildlife populations, and said environmentalists are the ones that need to step up their work.

“The eco groups, they need to put their money where their mouth is. The (AFGA) have 32,000 acres of available parkland they’ve been able to protect that are for the public to use.”

Yet despite the conflict, the provincial government is in no rush to make up its mind on the grizzly bear hunt.

Darcy Whiteside, spokesman for sustainable resource development, said the province is still in the process of reviewing grizzly bear policy. An independent reviewer is currently analysing all of the information collected by the government. 

“An independent reviewer will look at all of our materiel, and will deliberate with the endangered species committee, which is federal,” Whiteside said, noting that the reviewer, whose identity has not been released, will weigh all of the evidence.

Whiteside could not give a timeline for the release, only saying that the bear hunt tends to occur in March.