Creating a Community Bylaw or Ordinance

Bylaws or Ordinances should be implemented to ensure the goals of your community's Bear Smart program are met.

"Bear Smart" Bylaws and Ordinances should prohibit the supply of food to bears as a result of intent, neglect, or irresponsible management of attractants. An enforcement strategy, with escalating penalties, also needs to be considered to ensure compliance with bylaws and ordinances.

Bylaws and Ordinance can address:

• no feeding of bears or other wildlife, whether intentional or unintentional, by allowing access to attractants
  
  ie. No person shall leave garbage of any kind accessible, either intentionally or unintentionally, to wildlife or domestic animals. This includes, but is not limited to, household garbage, compost, fruit, livestock feed, apiaries, barbeques, and the hanging of carcasses.
  
  See sample Model Ordinance
  
  
• mandatory bear-proofing of the solid waste managment system
  
  See sample Model Ordinance

See Ontario Ministry of Enviroment - Toolkit for Municipal By-laws

The needs of each community will vary depending on their requirements:

• Identify whether any bylaws currently exist for the community and determine whether any will be necessary given the problems that were identified in the Hazard Assessment and the type of bear-proof waste management system that is selected.
  
  
• Communities that have implemented a bear-proof waste management system need to ensure compliance with their standards. The language of the bylaw or ordinance will need to address the type of system in place ie. whether residents are required to take their own garbage to a landfill or transfer station; or whether a garbage/refuse hauler maintains the system.
  
  
• Communities that still have curb-side pick up can also benefit from implementing a bylaw or ordinance. The bylaw or ordinance can ensure that garbage is not placed at the curb-side before a certain hour on the day of pick-up; and that the container is removed from the curb-side and placed in a bear-proof location (ie. house or garage, not garden shed, carport or wooden box) by a certain hour and until the next day of pick-up. Although this situation is not ideal, it provides a reasonable temporary measure to limit bear access to garbage. Nevertheless, bear-proofing the solid waste managment system should be considered a high priortiy.
  
  
• Bylaws and ordinances can be general with blanket statements or more specific to include the following:
  
  
  • Garbage (from temporary receptacles) at special community events (festivals, ball tournaments, concerts, etc.) must be removed at the end of each day's activities.
  • No person shall fail to take remedial action to avoid contact or conflict with wildlife after being advised by the Bylaw Enforcement Officer that such action is necessary. Remedial action may include, but is not limited to securing, in a wildlife resistant enclosure, all garbage containers; removal of cooking grills or barbecues, pet food, bird feeders or any other attractants.
  • Bird feeders containing seed, nuts, suet or hummingbird nectar, may be allowed with certain restrictions during the non-denning period: feeders must be suspended from a cable or other device so that they are inaccessible to bears. The area below the feeder should be kept free of accumulations of seed.
  • Barbecues must be kept clean and any residual attractant must be burnt off the grill. Grease cans must be stored indoors where they are inaccessible to wildlife.
  • Include community composting requirements in high-risk areas of the community or prohibit composting of organic kitchen refuse.

Education

A public awareness educational campaign should be implemented to ensure that residents are aware of:

(a) the new bylaw or ordinance; and
(b) the dangers of allowing bear access to garbage or other edible attractants.

Financial Assistance Programs

Offer finanical assistance to aid with compliance - e.g. rebate programs for bear-proof waste containment:

These programs can be initiated by local governments or non-profits. An adopt-a-bin program can be very helpful in generating donations. A sign can be placed on the adopted bin, acknoweldging the generous support of the donor.

Enforcement and Penalties

Enforcing bylaws and ordinances must be the responsibility of an agreed-upon service, such as a by-law enforcement officer, a provincial/state Wildlife Agency, or police.

A monetary penalty must be considered. Consider stiffer penalties and proceedings for multiple offences. Perhaps a written warning might be followed by a minium fine on the first offence and a doubling of fines on subsequent offences. Alternatively, people who violate bylaws or ordinances could do community service work on a human-bear conflict issue in the municipality, such as garbage clean-up in a problem area or educational outreach.

Money generated from bylaw/ordinance enforcement should go towards a special fund set aside to address human-bear conflicts, such as the purchase of additional bear-proof waste containers or education.

Where do I start?

The B.C. Bear Aware Program has compiled a "how-to" list for organizing a Bylaw Committee in your community; drafting a bylaw; and presenting the draft bylaw to Council. Download the list.

Provincial or State Laws

Some provinces and states have laws that may compliment or enhance a community's bylaws or ordinance:

Province of British Columbia - It is an offence for people in BC to feed dangerous wildlife (ie. bears, cougars, coyotes, and wolves) or to disobey orders to remove and clean up food, food waste, or other substances that can attract dangerous wildlife to their premises. Conservation Officers may issue a written dangerous wildlife protection order, which requires "the removal or containment of compost, food, food waste or domestic garbage." If people fail to comply with the order, they could face a penalty of up to $50,000 and/or six months in jail.

Wildlife Act - Related Sections or Bill63 - Ammendment to Wildlife Act

State of New Jersey - Intentional feeding or otherwise attracting black bears prohibited. No person shall feed, give, place, expose, deposit, distribute or scatter any edible material or attractant with the intention of feeding, attracting or enticing black bears; or store pet food, garbage or other bear attractants in a manner that will result in bear feedings when black bears are known to frequent the area. Excludes some unintentional feeding ie. baiting deer for hunting purposes. Penalty: $1,000 for each offense civil action by a summary proceeding.

NJ State Bill

Note: You may use this section to reference already existing laws in your area. The bylaws and ordinances listed below are not necessarily endorsed by the Get Bear Smart Society, nor do they necessarily represent well-written and sound laws. They are presented as examples of the 'language' used in writing bylaws, ordinances and special orders and the various types of requirements that may be suitable in other communities or regions, depending on the individual region's needs.

Canadian Bylaws currently in effect: (click on the name of community to download their bylaw)

Rossland, BC - Rossland Bear Aware Bylaw Advisory Committee prepared a presentation to Council requesting that the community adopt a bylaw regarding garbage. See Example.

U.S. ordinances: (click on the name of the town or county to download their ordinance or special order)

U.S. National Forests Special Orders:

• Northern Region, Rocky Mountain Region, Intermountain Region - prohibits processing or leaving unattended any animal carcass that is not stored in a bear-resistant container or camping in the area of an animal carcass; within a grizzly bear use area.
  
  
• Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem - requires that food, garbage, and other attractants are stored in a bear resistant manner or burned; wildlife carcasses within 1/2 mile of any camp shall be stored in a bear resistant manner during nighttime hours; death and location of livestock must be reported.