Open letter: Unanswered questions and letters on wildlife management

September 19, 2025

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• Grizzly Bears
• Wildlife
• Wildlife Management

AWA wrote to Todd Loewen, Alberta Minister of Forestry and Parks, in a follow-up to past letters and questions that were unanswered. We restated our concerns with these decisions and reiterated our request for science-based and sustainable wildlife management.

The full letter is available here.

The issues, questions, and gaps in response are:

Cougar quotas

April 8, 2024 – Increase in female cougar quotas. AWA requested:

• Studies and consultation behind the decision.
• Plans to monitor the effects of the change.

May 7, 2024 – The response did not include studies or data to justify the increase and did not identify the stakeholders consulted on this decision.

December 11, 2024 – Expansion of cougar hunting areas. We requested they:

1. Provide evidence for the need to cull cougar populations in Alberta.
2. Provide evidence that supports the use of hunting to manage human-cougar conflicts.
3. Provide documentation of consultations with stakeholders, biologists, and experts.
4. Release data related to the monitoring of cougar populations and other wildlife publicly.

We have not received a response on this issue.

Given the lack of justification and consultation that has been revealed since, we demand that quotas are lowered and science-based limits are established.

Grizzly bears

August 21, 2024 – Changes to the Wildlife Act enable “wildlife management responders” to kill grizzly bears. We requested they:

1. Provide the scientific report to back up the claim in the July 9, 2024 Government of Alberta news release that there are more than 1,150 grizzly bears in Alberta.
2. Make public the data on human-grizzly bear conflicts and human-caused grizzly bear mortality.
3. Explain why they did not provide an opportunity for grizzly bear experts and the general public to weigh in on these policy changes.
4. Explain why the recommendations outlined in the Alberta Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan are not being implemented.

November 7, 2024 – The response did not provide evidence for the new grizzly bear population numbers and did not address the lack of consultation.

Furbearer trapping

November 19, 2024 – Removal of trapping limits on sensitive furbearer species. We requested they:

1. Immediately revise the Alberta guide to trapping regulations, and reinstate limitations on furbearing animals.
2. Make a public statement about the mistake and reinstatement of limitations, and take appropriate steps to notify trappers.
3. Provide documentation of any consultations leading to these changes.
4. Set trapping quotas for wolverine, fisher, river otter, and Canada lynx populations based on scientific evidence and provide this evidence. If evidence is based on trapping records, explain how these records accurately describe species populations.
5. Seek public consultation and expert opinions, and publicly announce all future changes to hunting or trapping regulations.

December 20, 2024 – The response did not address our concerns on the lifting of trapping limits for sensitive furbearers, provide scientific evidence to support this change, nor respond to our requests.

Hunting regulations

May 5, 2025 – AWA and Exposed Wildlife Conservancy wrote to express our concerns with wildlife management decisions made in the past year, providing 35 pages of evidence against them. We requested the following decisions be rescinded:

• More than doubling the female cougar quotas.
• Adding six additional Cougar Management Areas and setting quotas in these new areas to non-zero numbers.
• Expanding the Minister’s Special Licence species and seasons, particularly for at-risk species like mountain goats.
• Allowing public hunting of “problem” grizzly bears, a Threatened species.
• Lifting quotas on sensitive furbearing species like wolverines, fishers, Canada lynx, and river otters.

We have not received a response to this letter.

August 15, 2025 – Changes to Alberta’s hunting regulations. We requested reconsideration of the hunting of black bears using off-leash dogs, the wasting of double-crested cormorants, and the additional extension of hunting seasons.

We have not received a response on this issue.