Bear Working Group, made up of representatives from Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the U.S. Forest Service, law enforcement, Bear Smart Durango and The Good Food Collective, has received $209,539 from a state program to reduce human-bear conflicts.
Further contributions from partner matches and in-kind contributions have brought the total to $503,932, which will be spent over five years, according to a news release from CPW and Bear Smart Durango.
Bear Working Group submitted the request in part to improve infrastructure in La Plata County. Money from the grant will help pay for:
- 20 additional food storage lockers to be added to San Juan National Forest campgrounds.
- 37 more all-metal bear-resistant trash containers to be provided to Durango School District 9-R, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe campus, city of Durango and Pine River Irrigation District.
- Materials for installing 60 electric fence projects, which could protect beehives, chickens, small livestock and compost, and other mitigation materials such as unwelcome mats and scare devices.
The other major goal of Bear Working Group is to create new jobs, including a fruit gleaning coordinator through The Good Food Collective. The coordinator would allow the group to develop and implement an on-demand bear mitigation gleaning strategy.
“Our gleaning program is all about capturing excess fruit and foods that we have that come out of our area – an estimated 2.3 million pounds of food that go to waste every year,” Rachel Landis, director of The Good Food Collective, said in the release. “We want to be able to capture apples and other food sources before bears come so that we can protect properties and also protect our bear populations.”
Another new position created with the grant money will be a bear resource officer within La Plata County to provide education for new residents and to patrol recognized trouble areas.
“As La Plata County’s population continues to grow, the likelihood of human-bear interactions will increase as well,” said Ted Holteen, La Plata County spokesman, in a news release. “An enforcement officer’s first duty would be to provide education for new country residents and especially those moving here from an urban environment to better understand the dangers and take steps to avoid them before any actual enforcement of ordinances becomes necessary. The office would respond to violations via complaints from neighbors as well as regular patrols of known problem areas.”
In 2023, there will also be an additional order for 474 Kodiak residential bear-resistant trash containers for the city of Durango. The cans will go to neighborhoods identified as high-conflict areas.
“Even with good moisture and decent natural food availability for bears, we still have bears that are in town and hitting unsecured trash and other attractants,” said CPW Manager Adrian Archuleta. “The more we’ve learned through Durango bear studies, the more we know the value of bear-resistant containers.”
Bryan Peterson, Bear Smart Durango’s executive director, wants the greater Durango area to be the model for successful human-bear conflict mitigation for the rest of Colorado and even the rest of the country.
“This grant is amazing, perhaps paradigm-shifting news,” he said. “The grant was designed to kick-start a broader countywide effort. ... Thank you to Colorado Parks and Wildlife for this amazing opportunity to make a difference in our area.”
molsen@durangoherald.com
