It’s not just in their area.
The Silver Star Bear Stewardship Group doesn’t want to see any bear destroyed anywhere in the Regional District of the North Okanagan (RDNO) due to conflicts with humans.
The stewardship group has requested RDNO consider creating a wildlife attractant bylaw. Within the RDNO, the cities of Vernon, Armstrong, and Enderby, and the Village of Lumby, have such a bylaw.
“If we all work together and all have the same bylaw, then we’d be looking at the whole picture,” said stewardship spokesperson Kathy Jenkins, joined at the RDNO presentation by group members Lorna Wood and Cassandra Zerebeski.
The bear stewards is a community group funded by SilverStar Mountain Resort and Destination SilverStar. It’s made up of about 10 members of the SilverStar community with support from the Conservation Officer Service (COS).
The group formed in 2021. They have generated more than 160 followers on Facebook and work with many people in the BX to resolve human-bear conflict issues, not just at the resort.
“We’re doing a lot of things as far as bearproofing, convincing residents to bearproof: education,” said Jenkins. Her group has created door hangers, campground cards, put large bear cutouts in the community, and educate via school visits and social media.
The bylaw, said Jenkins, would be a “great step forward for communities…to show that government is focused on reducing human-wildlife conflict.”
“A bylaw in the RDNO will support initiatives that are taking place in the RDNO by our group,” said Jenkins.
At the top of list of benefits for such a bylaw is creating a safer place for people to live.
“If wildlife is consistently fed by humans through mismanagement of attractants, they become habituated to living within communities,” said Jenkins.
In the City of Armstrong bylaw, attractant is described as “any substance which could reasonably be expected to attract wildlife or does attract wildlife including but not limited to household refuse, kitchen waste, food products, food containers, barbecues grills, carcass or part of a carcass of an animal or fish, or other meat, pet food, bird feed, diapers, grease barrels, fruit, oil and other petroleum products, antifreeze, other chemical products and or any other substance or thing prescribed by regulation under the BC Wildlife Act.”
The Silver Star group has received funding from the RDNO to build a bear education trail at the resort, a project, Jenkins said, that is coming along really well. The bylaw would be a great tool to add to the trail, she said.
“It will show what we’re doing to supporting keeping bears from getting destroyed,” said Jenkins. “We’re hoping to have thousands of people come to this trail. That’s why we’re building it. We have a really big opportunity to educate people about why bears should stay in their habitat, and about bylaws as well.”
Added Wood: “We’re very serious about what we’re doing. We have a lot of people on board, and we’re educating a lot of children and parents. I think we’re starting to make a difference.
“Our community is getting bigger. Silver Star is at the top and everything trickles down, including the bears, into the remaining areas in the valley. I think it’s important. We need to get this in order so we have (municipal government) back-up, and we can make a difference.”
As it was a presentation, RDNO directors could not discuss the group’s request. That is expected to happen at the next regular meeting Dec. 20.
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