Don’t Fence Me In
Try and picture them all. On his first visit to the Waterton area in 1865, John (“Kootenai”) Brown wrote: “The prairie as far as we could see east, north and west was one living mass of buffalo. [...]
Wildlife
Wildlife
Gods’ Footprints
If you could hold a black-throated green warbler in your hand, it would be soft to the touch and strangely light. Barely as long as an avocado, the slender greenish bird with a black neck and [...]
Hunting in Jasper
A few years ago Sykes Powderface and I visited a mouldering old cabin in Banff National Park. He told me a Chinese immigrant market gardener who once lived there used to trade vegetables to [...]
The Mystery of Ursus arctos
At the edge of a swampy opening in a remote region of the Peace Country, Lyle Fullerton is pleased to find what we’ve traversed the muskeg for: some golden hairs of Ursus arctos caught in a [...]
By Trina Moyles
On the Brink
There is something angelic about trumpeter swans. Rare, ethereal, the size of a child, they wear robes of white feathers and course across the sky like clouds. They were once widespread in Canada [...]
By Jeff Gailus
The Big Squeeze
The afternoon of June 5, 2005, started like many Sunday afternoons for Canmore resident Isabelle Dubé: after a leisurely morning with her husband and 5-year-old daughter, the 35-year-old teacher [...]
Rattus Non Gratus
When history’s most formidable villains are tallied, we may get suspects like Caligula, Genghis Khan or even Snidely Whiplash. But history, typically written by humans, neglects an insidious [...]
By Geo Takach
Alberta’s Grizzly Century
When Andy Russell died on June 1, 2005, nature honoured him with a tempest the likes of which he had never seen in Southwest Alberta during his 89 years. Rain fell like lead shot for almost a [...]
By Jeff Gailus
The Meatmaker: Life and Death on the Banff Highway
Eyes flashed in the darkness. It was early October, 1970, and dozens of elk had congregated along the highway between Banff and Lake Louise. Interested only in each other—it was the height of [...]
By Ben Gadd
Being Nice to Bears
The massive grizzly extends its paw, curling its long and potentially deadly claws into the palm of a gentle human hand. It’s a moment of trust—and a moment of extraordinary communication between [...]
By Wendy Dudley
MOST READ
MOST READ
Oil Sucks
I’m an addict. I use oil. We all do. That’s how we’ve wired our economy. But the fact that we’re hopelessly hooked doesn’t mean we shouldn’t confront the issue. The first step, after all, is admitting you have a problem.
Addicts don’t make rational choices. They specialize in denial and ignore ...
Should Private Schools Get Public Funding?
Joel French, the executive director at Public Interest Alberta says no.
Our province has Canada's most generous subsidies for private schools. Setting aside those private schools serving children with special needs, many of which fill gaps in our public systems, the Alberta government spends $110-million per year subsidizing private schools. This ...
Closing Doors
No one likes having a door slammed in her face. But talking to dead people’s relatives is part of my job as a newspaper journalist. It is a skin-thickening, awkward task and I don’t relish it, but I don’t refuse it, either. I ignore the urge to back off. I ...