Years of efforts trying to quell bear-human conflicts paid off this weekend as Squamish joined Kamloops as the second community in the province to be designated a Bear Smart Community.
The long-awaited announcement was made during a celebration hosted by the provinces Bear Aware education program representatives at the Adventure Centre Saturday (Sept. 25) with representatives from the municipality, the Public Library, the RCMP, the Boy Scouts, the Conservation Officer Service, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Carneys Waste Systems.
Squamish Mayor Greg Gardner accepted a plaque and said he was pleased to see the towns hard work get recognition.
I'm very proud of the work we have done as a community to make Squamish bear smart," said Gardner. "Our community places a high value on the natural environment and we now have a comprehensive and effective program to reduce conflict between wildlife and humans."
The Bear Smart Community program was designed by the Ministry of Environment in partnership with the British Columbia Conservation Foundation and the Union of British Columbia to help encourage communities to work together to address the causes of bear/human conflicts.
The ultimate goal of achieving Bear Smart Community status is to reduce risks to human safety and public property, as well as the number of bears that have to be destroyed each year by addressing and limiting the root cases of bear-human conflicts.
"Squamish earned its Bear Smart title by supporting the Bear Aware education program, bear-proofing all residential garbage totes and community bins, and taking many other actions to reduce bear-human conflict," stated West Vancouver-Sea to Sky MLA Joan McIntyre in a press release. "Congratulations to residents and community leaders for making the district safer for both people and bears."
The Bear Aware celebration saw a number of information booths set up at the Adventure Centre as well as a silent auction and free snacks and treats. There was also a slide show presentation by bear researcher Michael Allen.
This is a really cool event, said Ryan Antosh, who attended with his wife and two young children. We actually did have an encounter with a big black bear on Tantalus Road by the golf course a few weeks ago and the kids were just staring at it. Its always good to get more information and theres lots for the kids to do here.
Michelle Richard stopped in on the way to Whistler with her husband and son.
Its been pretty informative, she said. We actually do encounter a few bears as we hike a lot and my son just loves them but wed like him to develop a healthy respect of bears.
For more information on B.C.s Bear Smart Program, visit www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/bearsmart/bearsmintro.html.
