The final week in March is now designated as Bear Smart Week in the District Port Hardy.
At their Jan. 12 meeting, Port Hardy council approved a proclamation that states celebrating Bear Smart Week will “ensure that the awareness of how we can all work together to prevent human-wildlife conflicts is important to all the residents and bears of Port Hardy.”
According to the proclamation, the District of Port Hardy has been actively working since 2009 to implement strategies and education campaigns through volunteer and district council and staff support to reduce human wildlife conflicts in the District of Port Hardy.
Council agreed to allocate $3,000 for funding towards Bear Smart Week, including an art contest for Bear Smart banners, signage, a large banner for the entrance to the town and to purchase Bear Smart flags to fly around the community during the week.
Port Hardy’s chief administrative officer, Heather Nelson-Smith, noted the funding they received from the Ministry of Environment for achieving bear smart certification “is the funding we will be using for the $3,000 for signage, contest and flags.”
ABOUT BEAR SMART
The Bear Smart Community Program was designed by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy in partnership with the British Columbia Conservation Foundation and the Union of British Columbia Municipalities as a voluntary, preventative conservation measure that encourages communities, businesses and individuals to work together to reduce human-wildlife conflicts.
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