I’m no wildlife expert but it seems to me the bears are coming to town because there is a lack of food for them in their habitat… Could it be that we are the reason for this scarcity or is it soil and weather related?
Maybe it is a combination.
I know of one way we could help mitigate the situation.
It is a given that we all love huckleberries, but there are some of us that pick huge quantities (I’ve heard up to 1,000 pounds) and then sell them commercially. This should not be allowed in my opinion.
We have lots of berry varieties available to us. The bears’ very lives depend on this crop, so let’s be considerate of their food supply.
Perhaps there could also be an initiative by the province, municipal, regional district and the Columbia basin Trust to partner with the logging company’s to restore the land for all the wildlife so that their food supply will be plentiful.
There must be other solutions that could be looked at that don’t end up with the annual slaughter of bears.
We are encroaching more and more into their territory. I know we can do better.
Tina Shields
Nelson
