After four years of having a dedicated seasonal bear response officer based in Whistler, the B.C. Conservation Officer Service is discontinuing the position.

Instead, a conservation officer sergeant and three other full-time officers will be based in Squamish and serve the area from Lions Bay to D’Arcy, Heather Beresford, the municipality’s environmental stewardship manager, told council at Tuesday’s (April 20) regular meeting.

Though the bear response officer position was a member of the Conservation Officer Service, the municipality was co-funding the role with $30,000 each year. Council voted on Tuesday to continue providing that money to cover additional costs such as hotel stays, overtime and vehicle expenses for the officers to provide additional service in Whistler, Beresford said.

She said the conservation officers will adjust their work schedules to coincide with peak bear/human conflict periods in Whistler and the officers will stay overnight in Whistler hotels as needed.

Councillor Tom Thomson expressed a desire for the municipality to use the money instead to hire bear researcher Lori Homstol, lauding her skill with local bears and the fact that she lives in Whistler. The conservation officers might not be in Whistler when a problem arises, he said.

Beresford said there was some discussion about hiring Homstol as a third-party contractor, but it was decided that liability issues were a risk to the municipality. Plus, a contractor wouldn’t be able to use lethal force on a bear if necessary and would have to wait for conservation officer backup.

Beresford added that Homstol has been hired to deliver the Bear Aware program and will still be working with bears locally.