Steven Hill
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A report by a noted bear biologist calls for Squamish to phase out curbside garbage pickup within five years.
But the company that picks up Squamish's waste says the plan is expensive and unrealistic.
On Tuesday (Feb. 7) noted biologist and bear expert Wayne McCrory presented Squamish Council with a Bear Hazard Assessment and Conflict Management Plan specifically requested by the District of Squamish (DOS).
McCrory was asked to undertake authouring the plan, due to community concerns over the number of bears reported in the area, according to District Direct of Protective Services Cliff Doherty.
McCrory said he created the report as a biologist, independent of "political considerations".
According to the report and Powerpoint presentation McCrory gave to Mayor and council, 28 bears had been killed in the DOS in 2004, largely due to conflict with humans and/or becoming habituated to garbage.
The reason so many bears were killed was due to diminished bear food sources in the backcountry, sending bears into residential areas in search of garbage, fruit, compost and domestic animal feed.
"Bears like to eat a lot," said McCrory.
Last fall, representatives from the Conservation Service and volunteer Squamish Bear Network asked council to move the community towards becoming a "Bear Smart" community, as outlined by the provincial government.
Bear Smart is essentially a program, which aims to diminish human/bear conflicts, and the number of bears killed.A working group was established and McCrory was solicited to author the plan.
The Bear Hazard Assessment served to identify sites, areas and trails where conflicts may take place, identify gaps in existing knowledge of bear use and conflict in the area and to produce recommendations to reduce existing and potential conflict within the community.
One of the most potentially contentious recommendations was to phase out curbside garbage pick-up in town altogether, in favour of dropping off garbage at two designated trash compactor sites in town.
"This is a plan," said McCrory. "What you do, or can do, is up to you."
The plan also calls for the DOS to "fully bear-proof Squamish Waste Management System with zero tolerance for non-compliance" including fines of up to $545 for disobeying bear attractant bylaws.
"I can't emphasize enough that bear-proofing must be done across the boards," he said. "Half measures will not do."McCrory also criticized the new garbage totes being introduced by Carney's Waste Systems this week.
He said the normal bins being offered were not bear proof, and that bear-proof upgrades were cost prohibitive to low-income families at more than $100. He also said the bear-proof bins were prone to "chronic latch problems".
He emphasized the need to phase out curbside garbage service, especially in "hot spot" areas of high bear activity, within the next five years.
"But you may want to test the totes out to see how things go," he said.
McCrory said bears would still try to get into curbside garbage, even if it was in a bear-proof tote, posing potential threats to humans.
"A garbage fed bear is more likely to be aggressive," he said. "Although in the past nine years there has only been 11 attacks in BC by bears and none have been fatal."
The plan also calls for limiting or doing away with attractants elsewhere, such as at schools, construction sites and commercial locations.
McCrory commended the DOS for moving towards becoming a Bear Smart Community with such things as bear attractant bylaws.Council accepted the report without discussion and referred it to staff to make recommendations for council to consider at a regular meeting.
John French of Carney's Waste Systems said the recommendations were fine, but unrealistic at this point in time.
"There are three significant challenges that come with the system which was outlined [by McCrory]," he said. "The first is cost, the second is real estate and the second is community buy-in.
"At the moment Squamish doesn't have any of those in place," he said. "The DOS has not budgeted for the massive increase in cost that will come with a change to that system. There are many in the community who would support that kind of change because of the impact it will have with the situation with the bears, but at this point that group is relatively small and we don't have a buy-in from the whole community."
French said those factors meant Squamish was a long way from phasing out curbside collection, and he also defended the latch system of the bear-proof upgrades.
