OUR EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS are aimed to teach people who live, work and recreate in bear country how to better coexist with bears. The Institute offers Bear Awareness courses and Bear Safety training courses to the general public, communities and private industry. These programs help to reduce human-caused bear mortality by instilling a sense of ownership at the local level in the management of our wild lands.
Reducing interactions between bears and people requires the public to become engaged and directly involved in minimizing human-bear conflict in their own backyards and while they are working and recreating in bear country. By engaging people through effective on the ground education and human-bear conflict prevention methods, the public learns about specific issues surrounding bear management in their area and helps them to understand what they can do to help reduce conflict. The result is that relations between the public and government agencies tend to be more constructive, proactive and interactive. By becoming interested in the issues, the public are provided an opportunity to recognize the benefits of wildlife conservation and conserving the environment as a whole.
Bear Awareness Courses
These courses are designed to provide recreationists and people living in bear country with information on bear biology, how to reduce the risk of encounters between bears and people and provides the latest information on what to do in the event of an encounter.
Course includes: Bear biology, bears and people, bear safety (specific to where you live and how you recreate), and bear conservation.
To find out more about this course and where it is offered contact Bear Conflict Solutions Institute.
Bear Safety Training Courses
These courses are designed for people working in bear country. The course offers an indepth look at bear biology and behaviour. They explain what workers can do to minimize their chance of an encounter both in the field and at camp. The course covers current local industry standards related to working in bear country.
Course includes: Bear biology, bears and people, bear safety in the field (specific to your work setting), bear safety in camps (specific to your camp setting), provincial bear safety guidelines, and bear conservation.
To find out more about this course and where it is offered contact Bear Conflict Solutions Institute.
Instructors
Our instructors have many years of experience in the field working with both black and grizzly bears. They also have a long history teaching bear safety to the public, industry and government agency professionals. Our instructors have a unique, hands-on approach to teaching others how to minimize risk while working, recreating or living in bear country.
Course Director, Jay Honeyman M.Sc.
Jay has been teaching bear safety and awareness courses for over twenty years, within government, the private sector and to the general public. He worked for more than 15 years as a Park Ranger/ Conservation Officer in the Kananaskis District and more recently (2008,2009) as a bear conflict biologist with Alberta Fish and Wildlife. Since 2000, Jay has worked as a bear conflict specialist for the Wind River Bear Institute (WRBI), assisting government agencies with their bear conflict problems in various jurisdictions throughout Canada and the United States. He has been the Program leader for WRBI in southern Alberta since 2002, carrying out aversive conditioning activities on radio-collared grizzly bears in the Bow Valley and Kananaskis Country west of Calgary, Alberta. He worked for 5 years capturing and radio collaring grizzly bears with the Foothills Model Forest whose research includes assessing bear populations and evaluating bear responses to human activities and habitat conditions within the province of Alberta. Jay completed the first Bear Hazard Assessment for the Bow Valley (Alberta) in 2006, an attempt to formally identify and provide recommendations for bear conflict in the Bow Valley. Jay completed his MSc at Royal Roads University in 2008 evaluating the effectiveness of aversive conditioning on grizzly bears in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, Alberta.
Bear Conflict Solutions partnered with Bow Valley filmmaker Leanne Allison to create an exciting new film. 
How bear spray works. Why it works. How to use it. Where to buy it. 
On-the-ground research that makes a difference. YOU can make a difference too. 
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Bear Conflict Solutions Institute