In 2004, Squamish's bear death toll hit 27 and as a result efforts were made to make the community "Bear Smart."
The District of Squamish along with support from the Conservation Officer Service initiated the Bear Aware/Bear Smart Program in 2005. The mandate was to reduce human/bear conflict issues but four years later, conflicts seem to be on the rise.
"I do believe Squamish has more bears than we've had in the past. I am becoming concerned about how we should control the bear population," said Coun. Corinne Lonsdale.
In a presentation to council at the committee of the whole meeting Tuesday (Feb. 10), Meg Toom, Bear Aware Coordinator, said efforts to reduce human/bear conflicts are not in vain.
In 2008, only eight bears were put to death and public education is ongoing. Still Toom admits much work is yet to be done. She said the goal of the Bear Smart Community program is to significantly reduce the dependency of bears on artificial attractants.
"We have a lot of work to do but the number of people calling the conservation office seems to be increasing because there is more awareness out there," Toom said.
In 2008, the conservation office received 821 calls, most of which were bear sightings. Toom said Squamish is making strides in becoming a "Bear Smart" community.
"I am recommending that Squamish apply for Bear Smart status this summer. To date, no other community in B.C. has received this status. It would be kudos to the community if we could certified," Toom said.
Becoming a Bear Smart Community means achieving a set of six criteria from preparing a bear hazard assessment of the community to developing a bear-proof municipal solid waste management system.
To achieve that goal, council agreed to support the early start up of the Bear Aware Program for March 1st as well as entertain a new wildlife attractant bylaw. The bylaw was sent to the Technical Planning Committee for review. Toom said the bylaw better aligns with Bear Smart criteria and will assist bylaw officers with enforcement. Once approved by the committee, the bylaw will go back to council for approval.
"I think this is an opportunity to spread the message about being bear aware. One of the biggest reasons we have seen more bears in the community is growth of our boundaries. We need to deal with bears responsibly and the district has been pretty proactive," said Coun. Patricia Heinztman.
AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT
Council agreed to provide free office space to the Squamish based Climate Action Facilitator.
The facilitator is the result of a partnership with the Ministry of Environment to promote climate action initiatives within the community such as assisting with climate change curriculum in schools. In exchange for the services of the facilitator, the Ministry of Environment asked the district to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU).
The MOU includes a commitment for the district to provide in-kind office space with telephone, Internet and copying privileges.
"It sounds like a good offer and we might see things like the Trees for Tomorrow Initiative move forward," Gardner said.
Trees for Tomorrow is a provincial initiative designed to support urban and rural communities in planting millions of trees in schoolyards, hospital grounds, civic parks and public spaces. The initiative is part of Province's strategy to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by at least 33 per cent below current levels by 2020.
District staff supported the MOU in a report to council, which states that the specific tasks of the facilitator helps provide a level of public engagement and outreach on the importance of stewardship of the air shed, which is difficult to achieve at a municipal level due to limited resources and capacity.
"I think this partnership has it's benefits but we need to be careful because the province often gets involved kicking off these kinds of programs. A year down the road, we could be asked for a portion of this facilitator's salary," Lonsdale said.
