You won’t be seeing a conservation officer set up shop in Revelstoke anytime soon.

Columbia River-Revelstoke MLA Doug Clovechok said he broached the topic with Environment Minister George Heyman in Victoria last Wednesday.

According to Clovechok, there are 20 new Conservation Officers that are currently being trained by the province.

He said that none of them will be deployed to an office in Revelstoke which has been without a Conservation Officer since 2013, then responsible for an area from Shelter Bay to Mica Dam.

Currently, Conservation Officers from Golden or the Shuswap are called in in the event of a human wildlife encounter.

“Revelstoke is in a bind,” said Clovechok.

According to Revelstoke Bear Aware (RBA), there were 154 bear encounters reported to RBA and four of those bears were killed.

Those incidents were related to bears which had broken into homes and destroyed property.

Clovechok said that had there been a Conservation Officer here, that may not have happened.

While falling short of a commitment to bring a CO to Revelstoke, Clovechok said he did get Heyman to agree to meet with local residents to discuss their concerns on this issue.

He said he has not determined which organizations he will invite to meet with the minister in Victoria, but is looking into contacting the Revelstoke Rod and Gun Club and RBA.

“I will be arranging a meeting with myself and representatives of Revelstoke,” confirmed Clovechok.

Clovechok also praised the work of the city to mitigate human bear encounters.

In 2016, 24 bears were killed in Revelstoke, including four in one day.

“Two years ago, incidents seemed to spike. I told (Heyman) that was not an anomaly,” said Clovechok.

According to RBA, 66 per cent of the 154 calls they received in 2017 were related to garbage that was put out for collection.

In conversation with RBA, last year the city installed new bear resistant garbage bins downtown, and passed a wildlife and attractant bylaw. Currently RBA is working with the city to bring new bear resistant residential garbage cans to local residents.

Speaking to the Revelstoke Review in March, RBA community outreach coordinator Maggie Spizziri said that before the RBA formed in 1996 on average between 25 and 50 bears were killed a year.

The current average is about six, according to Spizziri.

Clovechok campaigned on restoring the conservation officer service to Revelstoke.

The ministry denied a Revelstoke council request to re-instate a Conservation Officer for the area in 2015.

@Jnshermanjake.sherman@revelstokereview.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter