The Editor,
Re. “2 bears shot; call for trash crackdown” (The Tri-City News, Sept. 11).
I have lived in northeast Coquitlam for 42 years and have never experienced the problems with marauding bears that I have this year.
It is far too easy to put the blame for bear problems on residents by claiming they are careless with their garbage, and this ignores other really important factors:
• This year, bears are particularly hungry and often seem to attack objects that yield little or no nutrition.
• Let us not forget that development on Burke Mountain has deprived the bears of many acres of berry bushes upon which they previously fed before dwellings were built on this land.
• Climate changes are going to exacerbate this problem in the years to come and the B.C. government needs to have more effective bear policies in place.
• And the dearth of conservation officers is a real problem.
In my situation, where I’ve had a bear intimately harassing myself and my property on many occasions this summer, my five calls to the bear sighting line have been ignored.
I don’t wish to see bears killed but as a resident on Burke Mountain, I certainly feel I am not getting the expert advice I need to deal with this serious issue and this has little or nothing to do with garbage handling.
Maggie Fankboner, Coquitlam
