RFD Bear Aware

THE CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF NELSON
REQUEST TO APPEAR AS A DELEGATION
DATE:
May 27, 2013 Committee of the Whole
TOPIC:
Bear Aware
PROPOSAL:
Annual Bear Aware Report
PROPOSED BY: Staff
_____________________________________________________________________
ANALYSIS SUMMARY:
On behalf of the Bear Aware, Joanne Siderius has requested an opportunity to report to
Council
BENEFITS OR DISADVANTAGES AND NEGATIVE IMPACTS:
The presentation is for Council and the public’s information.
LEGISLATIVE IMPACTS, PRECEDENTS, POLICIES:
It is within Council mandate and authority to hear the presentation.
COSTS AND BUDGET IMPACT - REVENUE GENERATION:
There are no costs associated with hearing the presentation.
IMPACT ON SUSTAINABILITY OBJECTIVES AND STAFF RESOURCES:
N/A
COMMUNICATION:
Hearing the presentation informs Council and the public about the Bear Aware Program’s
achievements and challenges in 2012 and provides general information about bear
sightings, mortality and attractants in Nelson and Areas E and F of the Regional District.
OPTIONS AND ALTERNATIVES:
1.
Receive the audience and thank the presenter
2.
Refer the matter to staff
ATTACHMENTS:
Presentation and project report
RECOMMENDATION:
That Council hears from Joanne Siderius and thanks her for attending.
AUTHOR:
REVIEWED BY:
_______________________________
LEGISLATIVE ASSISTANT
______________________________
CITY MANAGER
Thank you!
Year
Community
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012 Totals
Balfour
2
0
1
1
1
0
0
5
Beasley
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
Blewett
3
4
1
0
1
1
1
11
Bonnington
2
2
2
0
1
0
0
7
Crescent Beach
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Harrop Proctor
5
0
0
2
1
0
0
8
Long Beach
2
0
0
0
1
1
1
5
Nelson
5
0
4
1
6
2
6
24
North Shore
11
12
6
2
8
10
7
56
Queens Bay
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
South Slocan
5
3
0
0
1
0
3
12
Taghum
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Whitewater Area
2
0
0
1
0
0
0
3
Total
37
23
14
7
20
14
18
Table 1 Black bear mortality due to human-bear conflict by community.
133
The City of Nelson: Major Bear Attractants
90
83
80
2006 - 9
2006 - 12
70
2010 - 12
Number of PWORs
60
52
49
50
40
31
33
32
30
23
20
16
9
10
6
6
1
1
0
Garbage
Fruit trees
Compost
Bear Attractant
Bird Feeders
Other
City of Nelson, PWORs (garbage, fruit trees,
other attractants, and sightings only) and bear
mortality due to human-bear conflict (black
bears and grizzlies): 2006-2012
City of Nelson PWORs (garbage, and fruit
trees only) and bear mortality due to humanbear conflict (black bears and grizzlies): 20062012
Unit Price
1 – 49 65G Rollins Bear Carts @ $195.00/each
50
65G Rollins Bear Carts @ $165.00/each
100
65G Rollins Bear Carts @ $165.00/each
1 – 49 65G BearSaver carts
50
65G BearSaver carts
100
65G BearSaver carts
@ $225.00/each
@ $197.00/each
@ $197.00/each
Total Freight
$85 (budget)
$915.00
$1485.00
Per Unit Frt
$85
$18.30
$14.85
$200 (budget) $200
$2500
$50
$4100
$41
Total c/w Frt
Total c/w Tax
$280.00/ea
$313.60
$183.30/ea
$205.30
$179.85/ea
$201.43
$425.00/ea
$247.00/ea
$238.00/ea
Household Bear-resistant cans are expensive
• huge shipping costs for single cans
$476.00
$276.64
$266.56
Suggestions to Council:
• Facilitate acquisition of bear-resistant cans for
residents
• Loan? Tail-gate sale? Cost/share?
• Work with RDCK to increase buying power
• Change the City Website to include provisions of
the Wildlife Attractant Bylaw (3198) (e.g. under
“Waste”).
• Put a plan in place to replace open city garbage
containers with bear-resistant containers
Nelson,AreasEandFBearAware
Year-endReport–2012
By Dr. J. A. Siderius
October 31, 2012.
2
Nelson, Areas E and F Bear Aware Year End Report - 2012
Executive Summary
Bear Aware’s mission statement is “To reduce human-bear conflict through education, cooperation and
innovation.”
Nelson, Areas E and F Bear Aware had a successful 2012 season. We, in partnership with Kootenay Coop
Radio, ran a successful “Sing a Silly Bear Song” contest that was supported by The Nelson and District
Credit Union, Rollins Machinery and Oso Negro Coffee. The contest was used to publicize the proper
management of garbage and to promote the use of bear-resistant garbage cans in Nelson and Area. We
also worked with the Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program to bring Dr. Michael Proctor to Nelson to
talk about his grizzly bear research.
Program delivery included several presentations, displays, door-to-door visits, newspaper and on-line
articles, interviews and promotions on the provincial Bear Aware Facebook page.
Garbage was again the most common bear attractant in Nelson, Areas E and F, followed by fruit on fruit
trees. There were 271 PWORs associated with bears (261 for black bears and ten for grizzly bears) in
2012. Fifteen black bears were destroyed due to human-bear conflict. Six of those bears were
destroyed in the City of Nelson. No grizzly bears were destroyed in 2012.
Nelson, Areas E and F was funded by: Columbia Basin Trust; the Ministry of the Environment; the British
Columbia Conservation Foundation and the Regional District of the Central Kootenay in 2012. The City
of Nelson is thanked for in-kind contributions.
3
Nelson, Areas E and F Bear Aware Year End Report - 2012
Contents
Executive Summary....................................................................................................................................... 2
Achievements................................................................................................................................................ 4
Silly Bear Song Contest ............................................................................................................................. 4
Michael Proctor Talk ................................................................................................................................. 6
Program Delivery ...................................................................................................................................... 7
Bear Sightings and Mortality......................................................................................................................... 8
Bear Attractants .......................................................................................................................................... 10
Program Challenges .................................................................................................................................... 11
Bear Aware in 2013 ..................................................................................................................................... 11
Acknowledgements..................................................................................................................................... 11
Figures
Figure 1 The “Sing a Silly Bear Song Contest” was very successful. Photos from top left to bottom right:
Winners Wildflower School; winner Y. Holt-Lachance; winner A. Rosch ; “Bearista Bear” being
interviewed by Kootenay Morning host M. Stephens; the contest poster and J. Hannley, Harley the dog
and Bearista the bear. ................................................................................................................................... 5
Figure 2 The poster advertising the talk by Dr. M. Proctor in Nelson on October 10. ................................ 6
Figure 3 Program delivery was successful and included (from top left to right bottom): a display at the
Harrop Farmer’s Market; school presentation to grade 3-4 at Blewett Elementary School; presentation
at the SPCA summer camp; a display at Redfish Fest and a kindergarten presentation at Blewett
Elementary School. ....................................................................................................................................... 8
Figure 4 Nelson, Areas E and F PWORs for black bears and grizzly bears in 2012 ....................................... 9
Figure 5 Black bear mortality due to human-bear conflict in 2012 for Nelson, Areas E and F................... 10
Figure 6 Bear attractants reported in 2012 ................................................................................................ 10
4
Nelson, Areas E and F Bear Aware Year End Report - 2012
Achievements
Silly Bear Song Contest
Nelson, Areas E and F Bear Aware and Kootenay Coop Radio invited people to submit songs about bears
and garbage in our “Sing a Silly Bear Song Contest” (Figure 1) in 2012. The Nelson and District Credit
Union donated the money for the large bear-resistant garbage can offered as first prize; Rollins
Machinery donated a second, smaller bear-resistant garbage can; and Oso Negro Coffee donated coffee
and t-shirts as prizes. All six entrants received a Bear Aware water bottle. The contest was used to
promote the use of bear-resistant garbage cans and other garbage management solutions. Garbage is a
bucket of bear food that attracts bears to the community. We used a large stuffed bear named
“Bearista” as the contest mascot and took “her” to all Bear Aware events; took pictures of Bearista with
various Nelson and area personalities and posted these as “sightings” on the provincial Bear Aware
Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/BearAwareBC). The six entries were played on Kootenay
Coop Radio ((http://kootenaycoopradio.com/index.php?/radio-show/show/kootenay_morning/) and on
the provincial Bear Aware Facebook page. There were two Bear Aware media releases about the project
that resulted in four radio interviews, two newspaper articles and three on-line articles. The contest
was also used as a vehicle for publicizing the efforts of a Nelson citizen to put together an order of 50
bear-resistant cans from Rollins machinery. This order is discussed below.
Nelson, Areas E and F Bear Aware Year End Report - 2012
Figure 1 The “Sing a Silly Bear Song Contest” was very successful. Photos from top left to bottom right: Winners Wildflower
School; winner Y. Holt-Lachance; winner A. Rosch ; “Bearista Bear” being interviewed by Kootenay Morning host M.
Stephens; the contest poster and J. Hannley, Harley the dog and Bearista the bear.
Nelson, Areas E and F Bear Aware Year End Report - 2012
Michael Proctor Talk
Nelson Areas E and F Bear Aware and the Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program (FWCP) brought Dr.
Michael Proctor to Nelson on October 10, 2012 to give a free presentation about his grizzly bear
research in the Kootenays (Figure 2). There was one Bear Aware media release and FWCP advertising
that resulted in articles in print and on-line media. The talk was also advertised on the provincial Bear
Aware Facebook page
(http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=469196953101585&set=a.441864985834782.97367.42648
6817372599&type=1&theater). Fifty-two people attended the talk. Bear Aware had a display at the talk
that included: Bear Aware pamphlets, bookmarks and other materials; two types of predator electric
fencers; a “how to set up a simple predator electric fence” pamphlet; and RDCK composting pamphlets.
Dr. Proctor is a strong supporter of Bear Aware and a portion of his talk emphasized the need for
managing bear attractants in bear country.
Figure 2 The poster advertising the talk by Dr. M. Proctor in Nelson on October 10.
7
Nelson, Areas E and F Bear Aware Year End Report - 2012
Program Delivery
Bear Aware contacted over 250 people in 14 neighbourhood door to door efforts in Nelson and in Areas
E and Area F. There were five neighbourhood door to door visits to Nelson; three in Area F and six in
Area E. The program distributed seven media releases resulting in over twelve newspaper and on-line
articles and seven interviews. Bear Aware also posted over 20 entries on the provincial Bear Aware
Facebook page. Bear Aware gave presentations to Blewett Elementary School and Ecole des SentiersAlpins; two SPCA summer camp presentations; one presentation at the Nelson Library; and a
presentation to Nelson and District Credit Union staff.
Bear Aware attended several events with a display that included Bear Aware educational pamphlets and
materials and information about human-bear conflict in Nelson and area (Figure 3). We also displayed
predator electric fencing units, a pamphlet on how to set up a simple predator electric fence, Nelson
and Area Bear Hazard Assessment maps (and a request for additional sightings) and RDCK compost
pamphlets. We set up and attended displays at: the Harrop Farmer’s Market (twice); the Nelson
Farmer’s Market (twice); Redfish Fest; Nelson Market Fest; and “Paws for Cause.” We approached and
spoke to over 2,000 people at these events and gave out Bear Aware pamphlets and the other materials
at the display.
We distributed Bear Aware pamphlets, “how to construct a simple predator electric fence” pamphlets,
RDCK compost pamphlets and “Silly Bear Song Contest” Posters to Nelson businesses and stores from
Balfour to Bonnington. We spoke to personnel at these stores and offered information and answered
questions about human-bear conflict.
Bear Aware Community Coordinator Joanne Siderius attended the West Kootenay Human-bear Conflict
Working Group meeting in May. The meeting included local and provincial government staff and
elected officials, biologists, enforcement personnel and Bear Aware coordinators. Dr. Siderius delivered
a talk about the Provincial Bear Smart Community Initiative, how communities were doing in achieving
Bear Smart status and some human-bear conflict solutions.
Bear Aware worked with Nelson citizen Tea Preville to put together an order for 50 bear-resistant
garbage cans to Rollins Machinery. Because it is part of such a large order, an individual can will cost
only $224.00 (including taxes and delivery). This initiative will continue over autumn and early winter of
2012.
We worked with three volunteers who distributed pamphlets in their community and we also tagged
garbage twice in Nelson.
Nelson, Areas E and F Bear Aware Year End Report - 2012
Figure 3 Program delivery was successful and included (from top left to right bottom): a display at the Harrop Farmer’s
Market; school presentation to grade 3-4 at Blewett Elementary School; presentation at the SPCA summer camp; a display at
Redfish Fest and a kindergarten presentation at Blewett Elementary School.
Bear Sightings and Mortality
There were 271 calls to the Conservation Officer Service (RAPP line (Report a Polluter or Poacher) (1877-952-7277) for Nelson, Areas E and F in 2012 (as of Nov. 1, 2012). The calls to the RAPP line are
called Problem Wildlife Occurrence Reports (PWORs). There were 209 calls for Nelson, Areas E and F in
2011 as of Nov 1, 2011. Figure 4 shows the breakdown of PWORs for each community in Nelson, Areas
E and F in 2012. The City of Nelson (80 PWORs) and surrounding communities of the North Shore (83
PWORs) and Blewett (39 calls) accounted for the majority of calls (202 of 271 calls (75%)). The Nelson
City Police received 44 calls (in addition to those reported to the RAPP line) regarding bears in the City of
Nelson.
Nelson, Areas E and F Bear Aware Year End Report - 2012
Most of the PWORs (261 of 271) were associated with black bears, but ten of the PWORs were
associated with grizzly bears. Nelson accounted for five grizzly bear PWORs, Blewett for four and
Taghum for one PWOR associated with grizzly bears.
PWORs (calls to the RAPP line) in 2012
90
80
83
80
70
PWORs
60
50
40
30
20
10
39
24
12
9
6
5
5
3
3
2
0
Community
Figure 4 Nelson, Areas E and F PWORs for black bears and grizzly bears in 2012
Figure 5 shows the number of black bears destroyed due to human-bear conflict according to the RAPP
line as of Nov. 1, 2012.
Six black bears were destroyed in Nelson in 2012 due to human-bear conflict, compared with two in
2011. Nine black bears were destroyed in the other communities, compared with eight in 2011. No
grizzly bears were destroyed due to human-bear conflict in Nelson, Areas E and F in 2012.
Nelson, Areas E and F Bear Aware Year End Report - 2012
Black bear mortality due to human-bear
conflict in 2012
Number of black bears destroyed
7
6
6
5
4
3
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
0
Figure 5 Black bear mortality due to human-bear conflict in 2012 for Nelson, Areas E and F
Bear Attractants
Figure 6 shows the major bear attractants reported in the RAPP line for all communities in 2012. Of the
271 PWORs received in 2012, 149 reported a bear attractant. Figure 6 is based on those 149 PWORs.
Garbage was by far the greatest reported attractant (72 of 149 (48%), followed by fruit trees (19%).
Number of PWORs
Reported bear attractants in 2012
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
72
29
9
8
7
7
Bear Attractant
Figure 6 Bear attractants reported in 2012
6
4
4
3
11
Nelson, Areas E and F Bear Aware Year End Report - 2012
Other attractants (33%) included livestock (chickens, rabbits and a donkey), outdoor freezers, berry
bushes, compost, bird feeders, pet food, gardens and pets.
Program Challenges
Nelson and Areas E and F is a large geographical area to cover in door to door visits. Nelson and area is
also a mobile population and there are several new residents who do not yet understand the
responsibilities of living in bear country. There are also long-time residents who do not manage
attractants (especially fruit trees and compost) until the bear becomes a “problem” and they contact the
Nelson City Police or Conservation Officer Service. This challenge to delivery of Bear Aware means that
we continue our efforts to educate people. We need to continue using the tried and true methods
(displays, presentations, door-to-door visits, interviews and media releases) of education and the newer
means of communicating (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, etc.).
Nelson now has a wildlife attractant bylaw (Bylaw 3198: Waste Management and Wildlife Attractant
Bylaw) but the public is not aware of the bylaw and enforcement of the bylaw is not rigorous. The RDCK
has no bylaw that addresses the management of wildlife attractants. Bear Aware has discussed the
possibility of introducing such a bylaw in the RDCK and will pursue discussions with various individuals.
We need to recruit and train more volunteers to assist with program delivery.
Bear Aware in 2013
We recommend that, in 2013, Nelson and Areas E and F:
•
•
•
•
•
recruit and train more volunteers;
reach more people in one-on-one conversations at displays and presentations;
continue and expand our relationship with the media (including Facebook and other social
media). Ideally, we can facilitate the distribution of more bear-resistant garbage cans and
predator electric fencing units in the area;
engage City of Nelson staff in a discussion about Bylaw 3198 (The Waste Management and
Wildlife Attractant Bylaw);
and engage various individuals in the RDCK in discussions about the implementation of a wildlife
attractant bylaw in the RDCK.
Acknowledgements
Nelson, Areas E and F Bear Aware thanks B. Waters, the Northern Regional Manager for the British
Columbia Conservation Foundation for her leadership and excellent management of the Bear Aware
program, and F. Ritcey, Provincial Bear Aware Coordinator, for his direction and mentorship. J. Siderius
benefited greatly from the innovative ideas and discussion shared with fellow Bear Aware Community
Coordinators across the province.
Our Silly Bear Song Contest was a lot of fun and was possible because of the community. Thank you to
Kootenay Coop Radio, especially J. Hannley and M. Stephens, for working with us on making the contest
12
Nelson, Areas E and F Bear Aware Year End Report - 2012
so successful. The Nelson District Credit Union funded the large bear-resistant garbage can for the
contest and gave us space for a Bear Aware display at the Credit Union. Thanks to the NDCU and
especially T. Atkins for this great support. Oso Negro Coffee graciously gave us some of their highly
sought-after coffee and t-shirts as prizes and J. Rollins of Rollins Machinery donated a bear-resistant can
as a prize. Thank you to our “silly song” judges: Nelson Police Chief W. Holland (who also designed the
singing bear graphic on the contest poster); Conservation Officer J. Hawkes; RDCK Area E Director R.
Faust and Nelson City Councillor C. Batycki. And a big thanks to the six silly song contestants who put
such effort into great entries – and who were so imaginative and humorous when asked to be in a photo
with a large stuffed bear in a red apron and red-striped hat.
Thank you to the media for their support: The Nelson Star (especially K. Bennet), The Pennywise, the
online Nelson Express and Nelson Daily, Kootenay Coop Radio, The Bridge and EZ-Radio.
Conservation Officer J. Hawkes and Chief of Nelson Police W. Holland have supported Bear Aware in
many ways. Thank you for your important contribution to the program. Nicole Ward of the RDCK has
also been very generous with information and her support.
We gratefully acknowledge our sponsors: the Ministry of the Environment; Columbia Basin Trust; the
British Columbia Conservation Foundation and the Regional District of the Central Kootenay. The City of
Nelson is thanked for in-kind contributions. Without our sponsors there would be no Bear Aware
Program. Thank you.