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The Resort Municipality of Whistler is actively engaged in reducing human/bear conflicts through partnership with key organizations such as the Ministry of Environment, Conservation Officer Service, Carney’s Waste Systems and the Get Bear Smart Society. 
Management Areas:
Interagency Cooperation – continued partnership actions between Conservation Officer Service, RMOW, Get Bear Smart Society, Ministry of Environment, and RCMP.
Bear-Proof Waste Management System – continued improvement of RMOW waste management system and supporting bylaws.
Green Space Management Strategies – consider bear management in landscape design and maintenance, particularly in the “No Go” Zone.
Community Planning Strategies – move toward community Bear Smart status; deliver educational programs in cooperation with Get Bear Smart Society; work toward wildlife proof solid waste management; bear habitat issues considered during land use planning processes and included in municipal planning documents such as the Protected Areas Network land use policy.
Human – Bear Conflict Monitoring System – continue to cooperate with Ministry of Environnment (MOE) bear research program.
Human–Bear Conflict Education Program – continue to cooperate with Get Bear Smart (GBS) Society, Whistler Black Bear Project (WBBP), and others on public outreach and education initiatives.
Annual Reporting – report provided on an annual basis to Council.
Background
In 1997, the Black Bear Task Team was established by a group of key stakeholders. This team included the Get Bear Smart Society, Resort Municipality of Whistler Engineering, Squamish District Conservation Officer Service, Whistler/Blackcomb, and Carney’s Waste Systems. The task team developed an initial black bear management plan and was involved with public education, waste management and non-lethal bear management (using negative conditioning to teach bears to avoid humans and human-use areas).
In 2000, the task team became inactive. A new group of stakeholders formed the Whistler Bear Working Group in late 2002. Membership includes Get BearSmart, BC Ministry of Environment , Conservation Officer Service, Whistler/Blackcomb, Carney’s Waste Systems, RCMP, the municipality, Bear Research Team, and the BC Conservation Foundation Bear Aware Coordinator, as well as a number of other interested parties who join meetings from time to time.
What’s Being Done?
The Whistler Bear Working Group, on behalf of the municipality, is working towards becoming a Bear Smart community (www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/bearsmart/bearsmintro.html) . The main goal of the Ministry of Environment’s Bear Smart program is to diminish the rate and intensity of human-bear conflicts and therefore increase public safety and reduce the number of bears killed each year. The following is the list of criteria required for communities to be designated as Bear Smart: - Prepare a bear hazard assessment of the community and the surrounding area.
- Prepare a bear/human conflict management plan that is designed to address the bear hazards and land-use conflicts identified in the previous step.
- Revise planning and decision-making documents to be consistent with the bear/human conflict management plan.
- Implement a continuing education program directed at all sectors of the community.
- Develop and maintain a bear-proof municipal solid waste management system.
- Implement “Bear Smart” bylaws prohibiting the provision of food to bears as a result of intent, neglect, or irresponsible management of attractants.
In 2003, a preliminary bear hazard assessment was prepared by Wayne McCrory, RPBio, McCrory Wildlife Services Ltd, of the lands falling in the boundaries of the RMOW. This report considered relative risk of a variety of situations and examined data from a variety of sources. The report forms the basis for the human/bear conflict management plan.
The RMOW Garbage Disposal and Wildlife Attractants Bylaw No. 1861 (2009) requires that every owner or occupier of a commercial, industrial, institutional and tourist accommodation building shall provide a garbage storage site located inside a building or within a wildlife proof enclosure. (Click here to download Bylaw 1861)
Click here to learn more about Bylaw 1861. Click here for the information package giving guidance for residents and stratas constructing a wildlife proof enclosure to meet the requirments of Bylaw 1861. The Get Bear Smart Society (www.bearsmart.com ) champions progressive management policies that reduce both the number of human-bear conflicts and the number of bears destroyed. Get Bear Smart accomplishes this by educating people on dealing with bears in their communities and promoting innovative non-lethal bear management practices. Overall, Get Bear Smart is creating a paradigm shift in people's attitudes toward bears and other wildlife by replacing fear and ignorance with understanding and respect.
The Ministry of Environment Whistler Black Bear Aversive Conditioning study examines the practical utility of a variety of non-lethal aversive conditioning methods for responding to problem black bear behaviour in a relatively attractant-free community. The ultimate goal of the research is to determine black bear responses to non-lethal negative conditioning techniques and to use that understanding to develop operational guidelines for use in British Columbia, and potentially elsewhere in North America. The municipality will continue to play a supporting role as required in the research.
The objectives of the research project are to: - assess community and visitor tolerance to bears at Whistler
- determine relative abundance of black bears in the community of Whistler and on the community/backcountry interface
- map and monitor “natural” food supply; examine the potential causes for periodic forage failures and determine whether low food availability is correlated with conflict behaviour
- capture, collar and monitor a representative sample of conflict black bears in the community and determine their patterns of human interaction
- document behavioural, physical and reproductive responses that occur when non-lethal aversive conditioning techniques are applied in known circumstances on known individuals
- determine how different external factors (conditions) affect behavioural responses to non-lethal aversive conditioning
- experiment with new and innovative aversive/non-lethal conditioning methodology
- determine the costs (dollar, manpower, and other) associated with conducting non-lethal aversive conditioning in an operational community setting
- propose operational guidelines for aversive conditioning in a community setting at Whistler and elsewhere in BC
- regularly communicate the results of the research and monitoring program to the scientific community and the public.
Vegetation Management
The following plants are food sources for black bears. It is recommended to refrain from planting the high ranked plants in the Whistler Village "No Go" zone, as well as other residential areas of high human use. For extra precaution, the RMOW also discourages the use of the medium and low ranked plants in areas of high human use.
Common Name Botanical name Ranking
| Black twinberry | Lonicera involucrate | HIGH | | Saskatoon berry | Amelanchier alnifolia
| HIGH | Devils’s club
| Oplopanex horridus | HIGH | | Salmonberry | Rubus spectabilis | HIGH | | Alaskan Blueberry | Vaccinium alaskensis | HIGH | | Oval-leaved blueberry | Vaccinium ovalifolium | HIGH | | Red huckleberry | Vaccinium parvifolium | HIGH | Salal
| Gaultheria shallon | HIGH | | Sitka mountain-ash | Sorbus sitchensis | HIGH | | Black Chokeberry | Aronia melanocarpa | HIGH | Red elderberry
| Sambucus racemosa | MED | | Highbush-cranberry | Viburnum edule | MED | Stink current
| Ribes bracteosum | MED | | Red-osier dogwood | Cornus stolonifera | MED | | Thimbleberry | Rubus parviflorum | LOW |
For further information on RMOW bear management initiatives, please contact Heather Beresford, Environmental Stewardship Manager at 604-935-8374 or hberesford at whistler.ca.
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