Nita Lake strata agrees to replace fall bear attractants

Whistler - Black bears won't stop roaming around the forested Nita Lake area near Creekside, but thanks to recent efforts from Get Bear Smart Society volunteers, residents of the area aren't likely to find bears feeding on berries right next to kids playing on the playground.

The society recently teamed up with the Whistler Blackcomb Habitat Improvement Team (HIT) and the strata and property manager at the Residences at Nita Lake to remove about 100 mountain ash trees from the neighbourhood and replant them on Whistler Mountain. The idea is to avoid bringing bears into residential areas in search of natural food sources like mountain ash berries, only to tempt them with bird feeders, dirty barbecues and garbage that might also be around, said Sylvia Dolson, executive director of the Get Bear Smart Society.

Mountain ash is a plant species of particular concern because the berries ripen in late fall when other bear foods are largely depleted, Dolson said. Fall is the time when bears often come into the valley in search of food, and with natural attractants to draw them, they can get into trouble accessing garbage or trying to enter homes.

There is already a "lot of bear traffic" in the Nita Lake area because it's largely in the woods, Dolson said. To reduce the possibility of conflict between bears and humans, mountain ash trees were removed on Sept. 19 from around the development's playground, around driveways and near doors. The trees were replaced with Douglas maple trees that are of similar size but don't attract bears.

HIT volunteers replanted the trees in a low-traffic area near the Symphony Chair on Whistler Mountain on Sept. 22, she said. Once the plants grow and produce significant fruit, they will draw bears out of the valley bottom and provide them with late-season food - a win-win outcome for everyone, Dolson said.

The relocation project was one of several similar efforts the society has undertaken in recent years. Because of volunteer labour and funding from the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation Environmental Fund, the mountain ash trees were replaced free of charge to the Residences strata.

Duane Hepditch, chair of the Residences at Nita Lake strata, said when the property manager presented the idea on behalf of the Get Bear Smart Society, the strata members were enthusiastic.

"We were really in favour of it. We thought it was a great idea," he said.

With the neighbourhood located in prime bear habitat, owners and residents wanted to do whatever they could to help keep bears away from homes, Hepditch said. The replanting went smoothly and some residents helped out, he said.

Dolson said in addition to work in recent years to remove and relocate mountain ash from the Village and other areas, the Get Bear Smart Society is working with the Whistler 2020 Development Corp. to modify landscaping plans for the athletes' village/Cheakamus Crossing. The original plans included hundreds of mountain ash and various berry bushes.

All Get Bear Smart Society projects will continue as long as people keep cooperating and funding is in place, Dolson said. Bear Aware funding and B.C.'s Bear Smart Community funding were both discontinued in 2009, so some programs have been scaled back.

Dolson said the only thing keeping the society afloat is sales of merchandise such as playing cards and her own Bear-ology book.

Since 2007, the society has bear-proofed 53 garbage sheds in Whistler, helped install eight BearSaver garbage bins and has worked to convince the owners of nine properties to remove bear-attractive landscaping.