Going for Bear Smart status

July 13, 2010

Whistler is going for Bear Smart Community status! This has been a long time in the making. Since 2005, when we started researching human-bear conflict in Whistler, we’ve seen the municipality take big strides forward to do their part in reducing conflicts between bears and humans.
When Council signed on the Human-Bear Conflict Management Plan, we completed the last step required for Whistler to become Bear Smart. The five previous steps included conducting a bear hazard assessment, creating Bear Smart bylaws, revising planning and decision-making documents, supporting ongoing education programs, and implementing (or at least committing to implementing) a bear-proof waste management system.
That last one – implementing bear-proof waste management – is the most challenging, the most expensive, and the most important single step we can take to reduce conflicts between humans and bears. There is a well known, direct link between waste management practices (i.e. bears’ access to human food) and human-bear conflict.
One of the more dramatic examples includes the closure of the Yellowstone landfill which ended bears’ access to garbage and humans feeding bears – injuries to humans from bears dropped from 48 injuries per year to zero.
There was also a corresponding drop in the number of bears that were killed in the name of human safety. It’s a similar story in several communities in Canada: Banff, Canmore, Revelstoke, and Kamloops.
In Whistler, conflicts with bears have been increasing since summer visitation has increased. There were no injuries to humans by bears until four years ago, and since then there have been four injuries to humans by bears, all caused by bears accessing or attempting to access garbage in the Village, at garbage sheds or when bears have entered homes to find food or garbage.
Since some residents without vehicles stockpile garbage in their homes, bears break in to access it, and consequently learn that houses (even clean ones) contain food. The Get Bear Smart Society and Whistler’s Bylaw Services have helped over 50 stratas to upgrade their garbage sheds to be bear-proof and we’ve seen corresponding drops in conflict at these locations.
It was the same story in Whistler’s Athlete’s Village: high bear activity and dangerous human-bear conflict ended within days of implementing a bear-proof waste management, all without needing to kill a single bear.
We have a real opportunity in Whistler to implement a waste management strategy that combines Bear Smart with 2020 Sustainability goals and Zero Waste initiatives. Based on many and various studies of human behaviour, it is clear that more people will recycle and compost if it is easy and convenient; so if we can come up with a system that includes bear-proof garbage, recycling and compost options, we are combining all three initiatives in one package.
We don’t necessarily need to go with the $1 million Haul-All package to be bear-proof. However, if we’re going to claim that you don’t need a vehicle to live in Whistler and encourage people to recycle, compost and discard their trash appropriately – it goes without saying that we better have the proper infrastructure available to people, whether or not they own a vehicle.
I believe our council recognizes this and I’m optimistic that as a community we are recognizing our role as partners with higher levels of government in both bear and waste management. Because of the link between bear management and waste management, a cooperative partnership of municipal and provincial governments tackling both issues together is a refreshing change from historical attitudes.