Durango City Council is poised to approve a permitting process for electric fences and bear “unwelcome” mats within city limits.
Councilors voted unanimously to approve two ordinances establishing standards and a permit process for the wildlife deterrence equipment and are scheduled to take a final vote at their Feb. 17 meeting.
Daniel Murray, development services manager for the city’s Community Development Department, said city staff members propose “medium allowance” regulations for electric fences and bear mats.
Electric fences would require barrier fences around them to prevent accidental contact by people unaware they are electrified, Murray said. They would be permitted in side yards and backyards but not front yards, he said.
The same restrictions would apply to bear mats; however, bear mats would be allowed on front porches so long as the porch is more than 20 feet from the street or sidewalk.
The city will permit only commercially available electric fences and bear mats with up to 10,000 volts of electricity and up to 2 joules of energy, Murray said.
A $50 permit application fee was proposed, and applicants would be able to file online. He said he anticipates Community Development would be able to grant permits within 24 hours after receiving applications.
Community Development and Durango Police Department would share enforcement and regulation responsibilities, he said.
Murray said Community Development consulted Colorado Parks and Wildlife and Bear Smart Durango in developing the proposed standards, and both organizations are willing to support the city implementing permitting for electric fences and bear mats.
Bear Smart Durango will aid the city in creating educational brochures with explainers about the permit process.
“Electric fences are an effective and humane deterrent for wildlife,” Murray said. “They create a negative association with human spaces. The goal is to keep wildlife wild and a safer environment where there are fewer interactions between humans and wildlife.”
Table to Farm Compost co-owner Monique DiGiorgio and Bayfield resident Sandhya Atkinson, who said she was a professional facilitator for the La Plata County Bear Working Group for six years, spoke in favor of removing the prohibition of electric fences and bear mats in city limits.
Education alone isn’t enough, said Bayfield resident Sandhya Atkinson.
“The most effective way to prevent conflict is physical prevention. If bears can’t access the food, they don’t return,” Atkinson said. “ ... That protects people and it protects bears.”
She said wildlife-resistant trash containers in Durango are one example of that concept. Electric fences and bear mats are the next step.
They are safe, temporary, affordable and highly effective. They deliver a brief deterrent shock that teaches a bear to stay away without harming the animal or posing risk to people or pets, she said.
She said 30% of all bear reports in Colorado for 2025 were in La Plata County. More than 750 trash-related incidents were reported, and 17 black bears in the region were euthanized.
“In my own neighborhood here in Bayfield, a bear broke into a compost bin last fall. After Bear Smart helped install local fencing, the problem stopped immediately,” Atkinson said. “There were no further conflicts, escalation or harm, and children and dogs in our community are safer now than they were before.”
cburney@durangoherald.com
