The District of Squamish proactively works to reduce human/bear conflict and is supporting, for the fifth year, the Squamish Bear Aware Program. The Squamish Bear Aware program is getting a 10-week head start this year thanks to additional funding from both the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the Winter 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) and the District of Squamish. The Squamish Bear Aware Coordinator starts today and continues until December 31, 2009.
Bear Aware’s goal is to reduce human/bear conflicts in residential neighbourhoods through education, innovation and cooperation. With the support for an early start up for 2009, the program will begin focusing on various bylaw amendments, aligning planning and decision-making documents with Bear Smart and begin working on strategic planning and initiatives for the year.
“Bear Aware is an important program for our community,” stated Mayor Greg Gardner. “This year we are moving forward to revise our Wildlife Attractants Bylaw and Electric Fencing Bylaw to better align the Bylaw with Bear Smart criteria, and to assist the Bylaw Enforcement Office in the enforcement process to mitigate human/bear conflicts and increase public safety in our community,” continued Gardner.
Meg Toom, Squamish Bear Aware Coordinator, commented, “We are a non-profit organization whose focus is to educate and motivate community members to manage their wildlife attractants i.e. available garbage, unpicked fruit, odiferous composts and accessible freezers. By reducing a bear’s non-natural food supply, we reduce the number of bears within our neighbourhoods, which in turn improves public safety and reduces the needless destruction of bears. The solution is prevention and with bears emerging from their winter dens within the next few months, we need to be prepared.”
Over the past five years, the District of Squamish has proactively supported Bear Smart initiatives through the replacement of community garbage containers with bear resistant models, the inclusion of Bear Smart criteria in the revised draft of the Official Community Plan, the community wide retrofitting of all residential garbage totes and through the continued support of the Bear Aware Program.
This program is available to the District from the Province through a program administered by the British Columbia Conservation Foundation, a non-profit organization.
Squamish residents can report bear sightings and bear incidents to the RAPP (Report a Polluter or Poacher) line at 1-877-952-7277 (RAPP).
Bear Aware is always looking for volunteers. Contact Meg at mtoom [at] squamish [dot] ca or at 604.815.5066
Bear Aware has been in existence since 1998, when it was accepted by BCCF to develop the program for delivery around the province of British Columbia. Since that time, BCCF Bear Aware, with consultation and assistance from various experts and specialists, has developed a number of documents that guide communities in how to conduct public education aimed at attractant management to reduce bear-human conflict.
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For further information, please contact: Robin Arthurs, Tel: 604.815.5006, Email: rarthurs [at] squamish [dot] ca
