A grizzly bear attacked two hikers over the Thanksgiving weekend, and another person was injured in a separate incident just a week earlier. While violent encounters like these remain rare in B.C., trail and recreation managers can help make them even less likely.

Learn best practices for planning, designing, and managing wildlife-friendly trails at ORCBC’s upcoming Designing Trails for People and Wildlife webinar.

The session will feature Magi Scallion and Kim Titchener, authors of Trail Development Guidelines to Minimize Disturbance to and Conflict with Large Carnivores, developed for the Outdoor Recreation Council of BC.

Scallion, a recreation planner with McElhanney, and Titchener, founder of Bear Safety & More, will share best practices for reducing human-wildlife conflicts. Their guidelines focus on interactions with bears, wolves, and cougars and outline 15 recommendations across three key phases of trail development. Using real-world examples and case studies from across British Columbia, they will explore how to balance recreation and habitat protection, integrate biologist input into trail planning, and apply adaptive management strategies such as trail siting, user education, and vegetation management.

A Q&A session will follow, allowing attendees to ask specific questions and apply these insights to their own trail projects.

The Outdoor Recreation Council of BC is a non-profit organization. These webinars are free, thanks to the support of our generous donors and sponsors. If you would like to support our work, make a donation or get in touch about sponsorship opportunities.