Alberta Introduces Permit Program to Address “Problem Elk”

In the spring of 2025, the province of Alberta launched a new permit program allowing hunters to target "problem elk" that damage agricultural property and livestock feed, even after the recreational elk hunting season concludes in February. Giving farmers a leg up, the initiative aims to mitigate human-wildlife conflicts, particularly in southern Alberta, where agricultural operations face significant financial losses due to elk.

The large ungulates have become a growing concern for farmers, with cattle ranchers like Cole Barten reporting upwards of $20,000 in damages from elk consuming hay bales so far this year alone. Other farmers could face thousands more in losses and now have a program that permits eligible hunters to target these elk on private property or adjacent Crown land, in an effort to protect agricultural resources.

"We haven't had a problem with elk for the last three years, and then this year we had 150 [elk] getting into a stackyard (used for storing feed) every single day," Barten told CBC. "As soon as that February hunting season was over, all these elk came out of the provincial park and they show up and they've kind of wreaked havoc on us for the last three to four weeks."

The new Alberta permit program is not an open-season hunt but a controlled effort. As part of the province’s Wildlife Management Responder Network, the new elk program is following in the footsteps of the earlier-introduced problem grizzly bear hunt. In both cases, eligible hunters are called upon to address specific problem elk or bears that are deemed to be causing damage, with a focus on reducing economic harm to farmers while maintaining oversight over hunting activities.

While the program has been welcomed by some farmers, it has sparked concerns among conservationists. Ruiping Luo, a conservation specialist with the Alberta Wilderness Association, highlighted potential risks to ecosystems and public safety. With Alberta’s elk population currently healthy, Luo advocates for non-hunting solutions and better monitoring of elk populations and wildlife distribution to inform future policies. 

"We're not as concerned with elk hunting, in particular. We are a little bit concerned that the government has been continuing to push the use of hunters in the role of what we feel should be wildlife responders," she said. “There are concerns with whether or not these hunters are able to play the role that they need to in responding to [problem] animals without causing harm to the ecology, to the ecosystem, or even to public safety."

Despite the calls for a gentler approach to wildlife management, the proof is in the pudding as programs like this one have been in place in neighboring Saskatchewan and a number of US states as well. In Colorado, CPW issues kill permits, distribution hunts, and private land-only doe/cow hunts to address elk damaging crops and pays out approximately $250,000 annually to farmers for damages. The state also runs the Ranching for Wildlife program, which allows hunters to manage elk populations on private land while landowners improve habitat for both game and non-game species, in addition to a number of non-lethal methods that do seem to be helping as well. Montana manages elk populations causing agricultural damage through special hunts and its Block Management Program, which provides hunters access to private lands to control elk numbers. The state also addresses elk-related issues in areas with brucellosis risks, using targeted surveillance and management actions like special harvests to reduce elk-cattle interactions.

Even states with small and growing populations of elk like Wisconsin and Minnesota have compensation programs with special permits in place to mitigate elk-caused crop damage. And much like those states, the province has paired the lethal permit options with some gentler alternatives including cost-sharing mitigation tools such as wire game fences to help protect stored livestock feed and scare cannons, which are available on loan.

Much like other states and provinces, Alberta’s new permit program is targeted specifically at antlerless elk and much like the controversial grizzly bear program, only 90 hunters have since been chosen to participate. Through the lottery system, all applicants were required to have a valid Wildlife Identification Number and had to be eligible for an Alberta hunting license in order to be considered.

No elk have been killed as of yet under the new rules.