G7 sustainability effort sees Kananaskis Village bear-proofed
A grizzly bear feasts on buffaloberries along Smith Dorrien Trail in Spray Valley Provincial Park in Kananaskis Country in July 2021. (File Photo/Rocky Mountain Outlook)
A group of students and scouts from southern Alberta are bear-proofing areas around Kananaskis Village ahead of next month's G7 Summit.
More than 200 local teens have been plucking buffaloberry bushes in May in an effort to detract wildlife from venturing into the space.
The bright red berries are very popular with bears.
Trevor Julian, executive director of the non-profit Friends of Kananaskis Country, is leading the charge.
'We're partnered with Global Affairs Canada,' he told CTV News.
'They reached out wanting to do a bit of a legacy project, something good for the environment left behind, and we pitched this to them. Now we're working together, engaging students from the Bow Valley and Calgary and some scouts to come out and do this work and learn a little bit about the environment.'
Friends of Kananaskis Country typically focuses on trail maintenance but couldn't pass up the opportunity to make the forest that much better, too.
Julian jokes launching the project under the G7 banner was a nice excuse to do something that will primarily help the village long after any delegates have left.
That's because security barriers and wildlife fences have already been erected around the area, and the buffaloberries are still about a month away from blooming.
Digging the plants out of the ground will keep the immediate area clear for up to 10 years.
Students have been focused on pulling roots near the hotel, the staff residences and along a main trail in Kananaskis Village.
'I think it's really good for us,' said Crescent Heights Grade 10 student Alexander Scott.
'We get work experience, and it's obviously really good for the park because they keep the bears away from the buildings.
'It's just overall fun.'
'I think it's great that we get to come out here and enjoy the nature,' said Grade 11 student Ayna Spahic.
'And I'd probably be in bio class or in physics, doing some science stuff. I'd rather be out here!'
The work is being done in 10 days across three weeks. It wraps up the first week of June.
Leaders arrive in K-Country on June 15.
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