The Ursa Project Society is an amazing local nonprofit working on ensuring we can co-exist safely with bears. They asked the following questions of candidates, and here are my answers.
From The Ursa Project: “In a year like this where we have a massive huckleberry crop failure due to drought and likely climate change, that means that during hyperphasia when bears need to eat 20,000 calories a day to prepare for hibernation, that they will come down into the valley bottoms in search of those calories. What’s in the valley bottoms? Towns. Towns like Nelson that have a serious overabundance of fruit trees and unsecured garbage. But I’m sure you know this already.
That said, and the following being about tools within the city’s control to manage attractants, we can never truly remove every attractant. Clover, grass, dandelions are all also bear food. At the end of the day, we must recognize that we built a city over 100 years ago, right in the middle of the bears’ territory. And while they will always pass through, it is our responsibility to not give them a reason to linger, but to give them space and tolerance when they do, and are in town. We must practice co-existence: shooting the bears is not a solution, as when one bear is killed it just opens up a vacuum for the next bear, and our cycle of killing continues. It’s like holding food in one hand and a gun in the other.”
DO YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE THAT COEXISTANCE IS NOT JUST POSSIBLE, BUT IMPERATIVE?
I believe that humans and wildlife can peacefully co-exist. As you mentioned, we have entered their territory without consent or an understanding of what that means to their survival. We could learn a lot from Indigenous people and cultures about how stewardship for our non-human relatives and the land is an innate responsibility that we all hold.
DO YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE THAT IT IS APPROPRIATE TO QUESTION THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT/CONSERVATION ABOUT THEIR OUTDATED POLICIES AND PROCEDURES?
I copied the following from the Ministry of the Environment’s website:
Conservation Officer Service
Our vision is to be a progressive and respected leader in environmental compliance and enforcement, shared stewardship and public safety.
I feel they may be falling short of their vision. If the Ministry is not responding in a satisfactory way to residents enquiries, anyone in BC can reach out to the Provincial Ombudsperson.
The current election would also be a good time to raise this issue with local candidates for the legislature.
The following are the tools that the city of Nelson has the power to implement:
BEAR-RESISTANT GARBAGE BINS – expensive but important fix that must be written into the budget, just like the downtown core bear-resistant garbage bins finally were. (Note: Castlegar received Bear Smart status in 2021 after securing a grant stream that paid a portion of the cost of residential bins).
The City has stated in writing that it wants to keep moving towards becoming a Bear Smart community. One of the key tenets of that is the municipality must provide every household with a bear-resistant garbage bin. Perhaps, even if the city offered to subsidize a portion of the cost, and had people order them though Home Hardware, we could get more people on board (they have gotten really expensive).
Two years ago The Ursa Project partnered with the city and had interested parties preorder 71 bins (people paid half up front and half upon possession). We were able to get a municipal and bulk discount to keep the costs down, but they were still expensive. The city let us use their yard to unload the pallets, but the very difficult work of unpacking and distributing 71 bins was left to 2 middle-aged women, their husbands and 2 volunteers. It was far from ideal, but we did it.
Since that time I have received at least as many requests for bear-resistant bins. Residents want them, and very much need them. Many people live in places where they have no outdoor enclosure to keep garbage cans in. Some people are even bringing their stinky garbage can into their living room at night! This is not an acceptable solution.
DO YOU BELIEVE THAT THE CITY OF NELSON SHOULD PROVIDE EVERY HOUSEHOLD WITH A BEAR-RESISTANT GARBAGE CAN, AND WOULD THIS BE A BUDGET PRIORITY FOR YOU?
Not every residence in the city requires a bear-resistant bin or would have room to store it. I do believe that the city could create a rebate program for residents who want a bear-resistant bin. If we can pay for, store and deliver thousands of FoodCyclers, I would be interested to know why we can’t do the same for bear bins.
GARBAGE DAY PROTOCOL – No cost to fix
The city’s rules for how to place your garbage for pick-up need to change, and that change needs to be made very clear to residents. The backstory, that you may be aware of, is that it used to be a rule that garbage had to be put out in just a bag, with no bin. So most of Nelson still thinks that is the rule, and on garbage day you will notice the “naked” garbage bags lining the curbs of our town. That is quite frankly an embarrassment for a mountain town in bear country, and seeing garbage strewn all over lawns is inexcusable. The last City mailer about garbage (and the website has this also) did contain the slogan “bag it, tag it, bin it”, but the actual language contradicts the instruction to “bin it” with the phrase “MAY be contained in a bin” (see below). All that needs to be done is change the “MAY” to “MUST” and clearly advise the residents. Even if the bins used to put out garbage are not bear-resistant, it is still one more layer to keep the bears out. And all the ways to keep bears out, will also keep out the rats, skunks, crows and other wildlife.
DO YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE THAT CHANGING THE RULE ABOUT HOW GARBAGE IS PUT OUT AND A EDUCATION BLITZ WILL BE A PRIORITY UPON SESSIONS WITH OUR NEW COUNCIL AND MAYOR?
I fully support a strong education plan around garbage pickup is critical to avoiding wildlife conflict. I have requested several times that we include information about living in bear country for new residents when they sign up for their Nelson Hydro accounts.
I would also support requiring Short Term Rental permit holders to have a bear resistant bin since many visitors coming to Nelson may not be familiar with how to safely dispose of their waste.
GARBAGE PICK-UP SCHEDULE – increased labor costs
I am sure that at least 75% of Nelson residents would welcome weekly pick-up, and if done during bear season (Mid-April through Mid-November) would reduce the attractants available to the bears. However, if this was implemented – and if the change of requiring garbage to be in a can on pick up day was NOT made – the city will have doubled the available garbage for bears to get into.
TELL US HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT HAVING WEEKLY GARBAGE PICK-UP DURING BEAR SEASON?
The goal of our Nelson Next Climate Plan is to reduce garbage. I feel there are a lot more options to explore and still meet our goal of peaceful co-existence. The cost of weekly pickup is prohibitive.
Nelson needs to remove its policy against electrification. Done properly this will not injure your pets or children. It will give a clear message to bears to move on. This wouldn’t cost anything and could save lives.
Bylaw could also play a role in garbage compliance and fines need to be significantly higher than they are now to be a deterrent.
COMMUNITY “COMMERCIAL-TYPE” BINS – alternative to pick-up.
You may hear this suggestion come up, as it is used effectively in other municipalities with great success. This system eliminates or can be adjunct to curbside pickup services and individual household garbage cans and instead use communal waste containers or enclosures. Large dumpsters can be strategically placed within a one-block radius of any residence allowing for convenient disposal of waste. Large containers should be bear-resistant.
Whatever the method, it’s important to make sure residents know how to properly close containers and enclosures, and that containers are emptied regularly so they don’t become overfilled. The town of Canmore, Alberta implemented this system over a period of years in an effort to eliminate curbside collection and the issues associated with attracting bears into neighbourhoods. (Note: Castlegar implemented a blend of community bins and residential bear-resistant carts.)
WOULD YOU CONSIDER EXPLORING THIS AS A POSSIBLE VIABLE SOLUTION TO PROTECT OUR BEARS FROM OUR GARBAGE?
This is an idea that I brought to council three years ago, after sitting beside a councillor from Canmore at a conference for Small Mountain Towns. I think that we should at least run a pilot of this program. I have a great location in my neighbourhood. This would also align more closely with the Nelson Next targets of decreasing our waste. Assisting elderly or mobility-challenged households would need to be integrated into the plan.
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