Project Code:	SUNPIN-01-039
Program:	FRIP
Area:	Applied Research
Sponsor:	Sunpine Forest Products Ltd.
Region:	Alberta
Project Status:	Complete

The overall purpose of this project was to increase the knowledge of grizzly bears and their response to management activities within the Foothills Model Forest in west-central Alberta.

Specific objectives included providing data and developing methods to assess/monitor grizzly bear populations; documenting grizzly bear travel corridors and other movement patterns; monitoring and evaluating grizzly bear moralities; use of modelling to assess grizzly bear habitat; and communicating the results through various media. The outcomes of this information is to provide land managers with tools to integrate grizzly bear “needs” into the land management decision making framework. Long-term program objectives are to provide resource managers with the necessary knowledge and planning tools to ensure the long-term conservation of grizzly bears in the Alberta Yellowhead ecosystem. The study area is approximately 9,900 km2 and covers a portion of both mountainous and foothill habitats. A strong gradient in land use activities and human disturbance exists across the study area. There were 11 different areas of study included in the project and each are reported on separately.

The funding provided for this project was for the 2002 summer field season, year 4 of a 5-year study.

Project results are contained in a one hundred and sixty-two page report entitled “Foothills Model Forest Grizzly Bear Research Program” March 2003, prepared by Gordon B. Stenhouse, Robin Munro and Karen Graham.