Lions Bay is a small village of 600 homes situated north of Vancouver along the 'Sea-to-Sky' highway on the way to Whistler. The community is surrounded by undeveloped mountainside bear habitat, and crossed by forested corridors and creeks. Between 1999 and 2001 numerous bears became neighbourhood problems in the Lions Bay area and were destroyed.

Concerned residents and the Village combined efforts to reduce bear/human conflicts and no bears have been killed here since. Bear management practices include communication campaigns to alert residents about bears, adult and children education to teach about attractants and how to deal with bear encounters, and waste management bylaws.

Lions Bay's Waste Management Bylaw prohibits residents from placing garbage/recycling curbside before five a.m. on pickup morning, and from allowing wildlife access to any outside stored food sources. The Village of Lions Bay is very proactive about bear management.

The Bear Smart Committee includes two councilors and the Village Administrative Assistant, and all public garbage bins are bear-proof. Bear Smart grants combined with Village contributions have supported numerous efforts to become a 'Bear Smart' community. A Bear Hazard Assessment was prepared in 2005 and the Human/Bear Conflict Management Plan is being adjusted to reflect current principles and practices.

Lions Bay's Bear Management Goals are that:

• waste management bylaw violations are infrequent;
• residents tolerate the movement of bears through their forested community;
• nothing alters the bears' natural behaviour or eating habits;
• no negative human-bear encounters occur.
  

Lions Bay Bear Smart Committee

Norma Rodgers (Chair/Volunteer)
Phone: 604-921-8467
Email: normarodgers@telus.net

Anne Page (Village Administrative Assistant)
Village Office Phone: 604-921-9333
Email: office@lionsbay.ca

Birgitta von Krosigk (Councilor/Notetaker)

Linda Heneault (Councilor)

Chris Doyle (Conservation Officer)