The Fernie Trails Alliance (FTA) has announced that new trail signs are now installed at all trailheads in Fernie to promote safe recreation with wildlife. The signs highlight important information from the ongoing Wildlife Recreation Study, reminding trail users that the trails in Fernie are shared with wildlife including bears, elk, deer, cougars, and moose.

With support from TC Energy, Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y), and wildlife scientist Dr. Clayton Lamb, the FTA has been studying how recreational use overlaps with wildlife movement in Mount Fernie Provincial Park and surrounding Crown land. The results show that Fernie’s trails are widely used by wildlife and that people can take simple steps to reduce conflict.

Wildlife Use in Fernie
One of the new signs (above)features a graph showing when animals and people are most likely to use the trails. The data indicates that dawn and dusk are the highest-risk times for wildlife encounters. These periods cause stress for animals and increase risks for people.

For the safety of both, the FTA encourages trail use between 9 am and 7 pm during the summer months.

Grizzly Bear Presence
Another sign (above) displays GPS collar data collected from approximately 20 grizzly bears, with a location recorded every two hours. The map shows that most of the trail network is used by grizzly bears. To reduce the risk of encounters, trail users are urged to make noise often, travel in groups when possible, and carry bear spray.

Best Practices for Coexistence
The signage reminds trail users of simple ways to help protect both people and wildlife:

• Use trails between 9 am and 7 pm.

• Avoid dawn and dusk, when animal activity peaks.

• Make frequent noise to alert wildlife of your presence.

• Stash your trash and store food properly. Never feed wildlife.

Sharing the Trails
“The animals within the Fernie trail network are often avoiding human recreation at some scale, likely to reduce any negative effects on themselves, so seeing as the animals are doing what they can to coexist with recreation, it’s important for recreationists to do what they can to coexist with wildlife,” says Dr. Clayton Lamb of Biodiversity Pathways.

By installing these new signs at kiosks across Fernie’s trail network, the Fernie Trails Alliance is encouraging all users to be more aware, recreate responsibly, and help ensure that people and wildlife can continue to share the landscape safely.

Please support these initiatives with your Fernie Trails Pass, available at FernieTrailsAlliance.com.