Leadership on Human-Wildlife Coexistence

The death of Bear 148 in 2018 was lamented by the entire Bow Valley community – but it did prompt one very positive thing! Municipal leaders gathered, created the Roundtable on Human Wildlife Coexistence for the Bow Valley – and convened a Technical Working Group that helped draft 28 recommendations how to improve human wildlife coexistence. You can view this far-seeing report on the Town of Canmore’s website.

The Technical Working Group is co-chaired by our Executive Director Gareth Thomson, and the quarterly meetings are attended by Wildsmart Program Director Nick de Ruyter.

Click here to view and download the Human-Wildlife Coexistence Technical Working Group 2025 Annual Report!

On this Technical Working Group we are pleased to work with the following organizations:

• Alberta Forestry and Parks

• Alberta Environment and Protected Areas

• CPAWS Southern Alberta Chapter

• Public Safety and Emergency Services

• Municipal District of Bighorn

• Parks Canada

• Town of Canmore

• Town of Banff

• University of Alberta

• Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y)