Revelstoke Bear Aware Society

News

2013 Annual Report Summary

This annual report describes the activities and initiatives of the Revelstoke Bear Aware Society from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2013 and provides:

A description of current human-bear conflict.
Accountability to the community and financial contributors.
A record for the Revelstoke Bear Aware Society.

The focus of Revelstoke Bear Aware in 2013 was threefold:

To continue our diverse education outreach programs to reduce human-bear conflicts and educate the community about reducing bear attractants.
To reduce the availability of unmanaged fruit to bears in the town
To continue working towards attaining Provincial Bear Smart status in Revelstoke

2013 was a quiet year for Revelstoke Bear Aware. There were 39 reports concerning black bears and 2 reports concerning grizzly bears, totalling 41 reports, made to the RAPP line and to Revelstoke Bear Aware. Two black bears were destroyed in 2013. No grizzly bears were destroyed and no bears were relocated. The light pressure from bears this season was possibly attributable to the season producing a very good and consistent wild berry crop and the reduction of food available in the city.

Garbage continues to be the number one attractant for bears, followed by fruit trees. Pet food and birdfeeders were also reported as attracting bears this season. Other common attractants such as compost, outdoor freezers and fridges, livestock, beehives, and BBQ’s were not reported this season.

Revelstoke Bear Aware delivered 22 presentations, attended 6 public events and festivals, and presented at 5 workshops. We also held our own event series – the Bear Necessities. Through these events we reached a total 1659 people.

Revelstoke Bear Aware visited 794 residences in door-to-door visits. Areas focused on during door to door campaigning were trailer parks and other neighbourhoods without secure garbage storage.

There were 5,488 visits to the Revelstoke Bear Aware website. A Facebook page was maintained with thirty-four posts made throughout the season and 2,155 people were reached through this medium. Numerous posts regarding attractant management and the Gleaning Project were made to the Stoke List. Revelstoke Bear Aware issued 9 press releases, had 10 articles published, and gave 4 radio interviews.

2013 was a big year for reducing fruit available to bears in Revelstoke. The Gleaning Project collected 2095 lbs. of excess fruit and donated much of it to various agencies around Revelstoke, including the Food Bank, a preschool apple-sauce project, a juicing demonstration, and the Local Foods Initiative preserving project. An Adopt-a-Fruit-Tree project was initiated and successfully matched up several properties with residents who wanted to adopt the trees and manage the fruit. Also, a fruit-tree mapping project identified many wild or unmanaged fruit trees in Revelstoke and sought solutions for management or removal with the owners.

Included in this report are recommendations for 2014. Key recommendations are summarised below;

That Revelstoke Bear Aware continues to run an outreach program educating both residents of Revelstoke and newcomers about reducing human-bear conflict in bear country,
That Revelstoke continues to work toward creating a bear-proof solid waste system,
That Revelstoke Bear Aware continues its education campaign to inform residents of their new responsibilities under the new Solid Waste and Recycling Bylaw No. 2006,
That a wildlife attractant bylaw is created,
That Revelstoke Bear Aware continues the Gleaning Project and the Adopt-a-Fruit-Tree project,
That Revelstoke Bear Aware continues with its program of finding management solutions for unmanaged wild fruit trees in and around Revelstoke,
That Revelstoke Bear Aware continues to work with the City towards Provincial Bear Smart status.

It would not have been possible to deliver the Revelstoke Bear Aware program to so many members of the community without the support from volunteers. This year a total of 340 volunteer hours were given to Revelstoke Bear Aware.

Get the full 2013 Annual Report here.