The bear aware message appears to be getting across in the Tri-Cities, although not without some residents being hit in the wallet.
For several years, the cities have required residents to wait until the morning of their collection day before putting out their garbage and green waste containers to make sure they’re stored out of the reach of bears, and to have secure locks on them. There have been constant campaigns to remind residents of their responsibilities and to raise awareness, and to back that up, there has been enforcement by the municipalities.
It seems to have worked.
Coquitlam is on pace for a dramatic drop in the number of warnings and tickets issued for putting out garbage bins too early. By Sept. 25, Coquitlam had handed out 131 tickets and 2,555 warning; in all of 2017, the city issued 450 tickets and 4,914 warnings, which was triple the previous year, when 1,651 warnings were handed along with 316 tickets.
“Definitely we’ve seen a huge improvement in compliance,” said Coquitlam urban wildlife coordinator Julie Kanya. “The city of Coquitlam has an education wildlife program for over 10 years. We’re getting the message that way, but there is a subset that requires a bit of a warning to induce compliance.”
Kanya said the city decided in late 2015 to increase awareness and enforcement, with the result being violations are down even though the patrols have stayed the same. She said patrols she went on last year would net about 30 violations while this year she would only see about 10.
Kanya said the berry crop has been good this year, which she believes is why there have been fewer calls about bear sightings since the animals are getting their food elsewhere.
But she added the city is still receiving complaints and it’s not just up on Burke Mountain. They’re being seen in big green spaces like Mundy Park because the bears use wildlife corridors to go farther into the city.
Kanya reminded residents to continue the bear aware tactics with their containers because in this region, they don’t necessarily hibernate. Although activity does die down with mothers and their young in dens, there are lone males that may be looking for food.
“They’re very habitual and if they know there’s a particular food source in a neighbourhood, that’s the first place they’ll go.”
Port Moody has issued 176 first-offence tickets, which carry a $50 fine, for putting carts out before 5:30 a.m. so far in 2018 and 19 second-offence tickets carrying a $150 fine along with five warnings. In addition, PoMo’s bylaw enforcement officers issued 109 first-offence tickets with $50 fines for having carts without bear clips out on non-collection days plus one second-offence ticket of $150 and one third-offence infraction carrying a fine of $500. Those totals are a much less than 2017 when Port Moody issued 630 tickets and collected $34,000 in fines.
So far in 2018, Port Coquitlam has issued 14 tickets. Nine were for unsecured attractants, two for early set-out, two more for an unlocked private container and one for an unlocked city container.
In addition, PoCo spokesperson Pardeep Purewal, said the bylaw department and BC Conservation Service have been out some evenings in October doing a door-knocking education blitz to make sure no one is putting out containers too early or has unsecured containers. Like Coquitlam, PoCo is also reminding residents to keep garbage and food scraps secure during the winter.
