Connecting Past and Present

April 26, 2025 By: Colleen Plunkett

Post 1 – Conservation

In July 2024, the Alberta government reserved a 20-year ban on hunting grizzly bears continuing the debate over the future of threatened species(The Guardian). Alberta originally banned hunting due to population decline caused by overhunting, agriculture development and urbanization. The Province justified the decision as a way of “protecting Albertans”, citing 62 maulings, 8 deaths and 897 counts of livestock losses since 2005. However, according to the head of the nonprofit Grizzy Bear Foundation, First Nations and conservation groups were not consulted on the policy change.

This article reminded me Binnema and Niemi’s argument in Let the Line be Drawn Now, where they highlight how Indigenous people have been historically excluded from conservation polices like the creation of Banff Nation Park and game conservation.  With the relatively low number of human deaths in the past 20 years related to grizzly bear attacks, I would argue that this change had more to do with pressure from sport hunters than with the safety of Albertans.

Post 2 – Urbanization

A 2024 Statistics Canada study shows that cities in Canada have lost significant green space due to urban expansion, population growth, drought and insect infestations (Global News).  The city of Kelowna experienced a reduction from nearly three quarters green space to less than half during this period. As the article states, urbanization is a big driver of green space loss.

This trend highlights the critiques of scholars such as Joel Tarr and Martin Melosi argue the need to view urban environments as entries shaped by both human and natural forces.  Melosi empathizes that urban historians have often ignored the environmental influences  of a city, instead focusing on political and economic aspects. Unit 3’s section on Urbanization demonstrates a more nuanced approach to the topic, encouraging us to consider how urbanization and environmental changes are connected.