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Colour variation in a black bear family. -- Photo courtesy of Alberta Environment and Parks

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The Friends is not an advocacy organization. We spend zero dollars and zero time attempting to change the policies of Alberta Environment and Parks. That’s not our job. Our job is to help them get their job done.

But we, and our partners, understand that our members care deeply about Kananaskis, and by being members of the Friends, are demonstrably taking selfless action to make it a better place for all. And there are other ways our members can do that, that lie beyond the Friends.

Over the last 8 months, we’ve been running the series on Outdoor Ethics based on the Leave No Trace principles, and how they apply to K-Country. This month marks the last in that series. Those principles – Planning Ahead, Travelling on Durable Surfaces, Proper Waste Disposal, Leaving what you Find, Minimizing Campfire Impacts, Respecting Wildlife, and Being Considerate of Others – represent ways that we as individuals can minimize our impacts on K-Country, thus ensuring it stays a place “of exquisite natural and cultural landscapes enjoyed by present and future generations” (which just happens to be the Friends’ Vision).

By following these principles, and, more importantly, encouraging others to do so as well, we can all be Kananaskis Country Ambassadors, and in fact, be Ambassadors of all parks and public lands in Canada and throughout the world.

It’s an ongoing frustration of all Board members when we hear of inappropriate activity going on in K-Country. Sadly, that activity happens every day. Whether it is simple (dogs off leash, flying drones), more adversely impactful (unsecured food or garbage, illegal camping, fires, entering closed areas), or destructive practices (illegal trail building, tree felling, feeding wildlife, graffiti, off-roading where not permitted), there is actually something you can do about it.

You can speak up. These things can be documented, recorded and reported. You can have respectful conversations, if you’re comfortable trying that, and the situation is appropriate. You can respectfully respond on whatever social media platforms you follow when you see something inappropriate.

As a Wildlife Ambassador with Alberta Parks who is trained to do exactly that, I have come to learn you won’t “win” every time; 50% is about as good as you can hope for. You will need to understand when to disengage because you’ve run across the half whose behaviour won’t change no matter what you say or do. Ambassadors are educators, not enforcers.

But you WILL win 50% of the time. That’s a whole lot of people who not only will be more ethical and respectful in their experiences in K-Country, but they too have the potential of helping others understand the impact of their actions and what they learned from your connection with them. 

Friends members are exceptionally well positioned to act as ambassadors for K-Country. That’s not advocacy, that’s just actively sharing the respect for K-Country you already have with others.
 

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Welcome Back Jamie!

I'm pleased to announce the Jamie McPhail has agreed to join the Friends Advisory Council!

Jamie joined the Board in November of 2014, and served until May 2019. He brought to the Board an insightful viewpoint, primarily in HR and organization effectiveness, but also with a passion for community. While he stepped back from the Board to enable a greater focus on his climate passion and Calgary Climate Hub work, he has agreed to join the Council to stay involved with the Board.

In 2014, the Friends Board of Directors formed the Advisory Council as a way of enabling experts on K-Country, significant volunteers and others who wish to help the Friends, to fulfill their Mission — without serving on the Board. Advisory Council members provide valued input to the Board and provide guidance on Society direction.

• Bikers are silent and fast, and need to warn hikers and other bikers they’re coming. Ring a bell or call out – far in advance – “bike” or “on the left”. The first rider of a group should say to folks they’re passing how many bikes are coming. Here’s a hint: attach a bear bell to your bike. It’s not good enough to warn bears, but it doesn’t do that bad a job of telling hikers you’re coming.
• Horses can be skittish, and can get upset and throw riders, or lash out and kick. So hikers need to get of the trail (to the downhill side) to let them pass, and bikers need to dismount, and give them a wide berth.
• Hikers are REALLY mobile. It’s easy for hikers to get off the trail in even the densest brush to let others pass. So be courteous and do that.
• Folks coming downhill have the right of way. Most folks going up need a break anyway. And sometimes, those coming downhill can’t come down as gently as they want, or slow down as fast as they would like.
• Always single file, no matter who it is, no matter the trail, and as far right as practical, especially where there could be space for 2 to pass. If bikers are on such a steep grade they are off their bike and pushing it uphill, they are last on the “right of way pecking order”, and need to be aware of and get out of the way of both uphill and downhill traffic.
• Skiers should try to ski on one side of a trail and non-skiers should travel on the other side. Snowshoers should do likewise to allow skiers to set tracks on the other side.
• Snowshoers should NEVER step on trackset XC ski tracks. Ever. Period.

The Critters of K-Country: Western Boreal Toad
35th in a series by Derek Ryder, IGA Interpretive Guide

Kananaskis Country is home to a wide variety of creatures, great and small. Big ones, like bears and elk, get a lot of attention. In this series, I’m going to look at some of the ones we pay less attention to.

You're walking in a wet forest and a small brown lump starts to move on the ground in front of you. There’s a pretty good chance you've just seen a Western Boreal Toad. Look carefully in the photo to the right; that's probably they way you'll see them.

Boreal Toads are found in montane and sub-alpine woods and meadows, normally near water sources. Wandering around Kananaskis, you’re far more likely to see this toad than the only other toad in the area (the Canadian Toad, which isn’t found much outside the Bow Valley).

The Boreal Toad is fairly common in Kananaskis country, and it looks exactly like you would think a toad would be expected to look. It’s covered in wart-like blobs, and is either olive or brown or dark green. You can’t get warts on you from the warts on them, but they do have glands on their head that produce a toxin that will give you a skin rash (and make their potential predators fairly sick). They’re easy to catch (they’re not fast; wash hands after touching) but will die in captivity.

While the range of the Western Boreal Toads extends from the top of the Baja to the Yukon & Alaskan borders, and east as far as Wyoming, Montana and Colorado, not all Boreal Toads can do mating calls; most of the population is referred to as “non-calling”. But our Alberta toads have vocal sacs, and so are referred to as the “calling” population.

They are bug eaters, mostly beetles and ants, plus worms and slugs. Those bad toxic glands limit who preys on them; mostly it’s ravens and other birds. They mate in the spring in water, and eggs – up to 17,000 – are laid on aquatic plants. They do the classic tadpole thing like all frogs, then become mostly terrestrial as adults. They overwinter in hibernation in burrows, squirrel middens and beaver lodges – often communally – and are capable of digging their own holes.

As a species, they're not doing that well, and they are on the COSEWIC list as “Special Concern”; 50% of the global population has been lost in the last 200 years. You can read here the management plan in Canada for its recovery. Reasons behind these population trends are complex. While there is evidence that the population is expanding eastwards, it is shrinking in the south parts of it range. First, it needs fish-free water to survive; efforts to re-introduce fish in places has harmed the population. Second, and far more importantly, it’s susceptible to a fungus (chytridiomycosis) that attacks amphibians, and frogs in particular. In K-Country, the volunteer group RANA (Researching Amphibian Numbers in Alberta) keeps an eye on the degree of chytridiomycosis infections in our sample populations.

The chytridiomycosis fungus itself is relatively "new"; the first documented case of the disease resulting from it was in a frog in 1978 in the USA, and another frog almost simultaneously in Australia. It’s possible these cases could have been related to an African frog, which started being widely exported in the 1940’s, that appears to be a fungus carrier but immune to its effects. That frog (the African Clawed Frog) had a unique trait: inject it with a human woman’s urine, and if the frog ovulated, it was proof of pregnancy. This was the world’s first pregnancy test, and was widely used from the 1930’s to the 1960’s, spreading African Clawed Frogs (and possibly the fungus) to medical labs around the globe.