KANANASKIS, Alta. (CP) - Bears who meet G-8 security in the woods had better be prepared to be doused by pepper spray, frightened by a loud firecracker or, at worst, shot dead.
With just one week until the leaders of the top eight industrialized countries meet at this wilderness retreat, RCMP and soldiers are being trained on what to do if they encounter grizzly bears, cougars, elk and moose in the backcountry. "There's a whole continuum of response if they saw a grizzly," said Bruce Leeson, environment director of the G-8 summit management office, who has trained hundreds of G-8 security for the wilderness.
"Any animal, it's easy to point to the bears, would be an unfortunate circumstance."
Environmentalists aren't pleased that thousands of soldiers and Mounties will be patrolling the woods of Kananaskis Country, a rugged, remote area of 4,200 square kilometres.
On Monday, environmentalists pointed out that the area is already bustling with machinery as organizers move in hundreds of trailers to house security, communication and fire protection gear as well as military equipment.
"If you look around, it kind of looks like Fort Kananaskis now," said Stephen Legault of wildcanada.net, an environmentalist who has for years fought hard against development to the area, 120 kilometres west of Calgary.
Kananaskis is an ecological hotspot, with a system of open meadows, aspen glades and secluded waterways that makes the valley bottom good habitat for a wide variety of plants and animals, Legault said.
"It was a bad decision to hold a meeting in this place."
Prime Minister Jean Chretien chose Kananasksis for the June 26-27 summit so that leaders could discuss major world issues without confrontations with anti-globalization activists.
The Alberta location was announced after violent riots between 200,000 activists and police at last year's G-8 summit in Genoa, where a 23-year-old protester was fatally shot by security.
Anti-globalization activists and environmentalists have denounced the decision to hold the summit in such a secluded area.
G-8 security is set to be fully operational in Kananaskis on June 23, when RCMP officers are to begin checking vehicles and passengers at security checkpoints along Highway 40 - the only highway leading in and out of the summit site. All command centres for the summit are now up and running.
G-8 officials said they have been working on a comprehensive plan to minimize the impact of the meeting on the environment.
"It's going to be a learning curve," said RCMP Const. Kevin Beson, who has been giving G-8 security officers wilderness training.
"But I don't anticipate that they'll be tripping over one another."
RCMP and soldiers will be armed with "brief relief kits" to urinate and defecate into, and will follow specific rules when in the forest: no fires, no digging and if you pack it in, you pack it out.
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