A new bear attractant law will be in place in the Haines Borough this year. On Tuesday, the assembly adopted an ordinance clarifying the definition of a bear attractant and specifying acceptable ways to secure them in a 4-2 vote with assembly members Gabe Thomas and Jerry Lapp in opposition.
Under the new law, a bear attractant nuisance is “more than one-half gallon of any putrescible material,” or livestock, excluding cattle and horses. The law says these are no longer considered attractants if they are secured with a certified bear-proof container, enclosed in a structure, or surrounded by an electric fence.
The ordinance passed with an amendment from assembly member Paul Rogers designed to give residents an opportunity to correct behavior before receiving a citation. Rogers had initially proposed issuing a written warning for a resident’s first violation and a citation that could be waived based on subsequent proof of compliance.
During public testimony, several residents said they agreed with the impulse to give residents an opportunity to learn before penalizing them for unsecured attractants, but said they thought two warnings were excessive.
“The impulse with electric fences for bears, basically our strategy is that we want the bears to say, ‘Ouch,’ and let them know we’re serious, and I think the same principle should apply to the human part of this problem,” George Figdor said.
In response to public comment, Rogers changed the wording so that the first violation elicits a citation that can be waived if the resident secures the attractant within a week.
“I do think that allowing a week to make corrective action is reasonable because we don’t have daily access to Community Waste Solutions. It also gives people a time frame to install or purchase any other bear-resistant measures that need to be taken,” assembly member Cheryl Stickler said.
Although the assembly unanimously approved Rogers’ enforcement amendment, Lapp and Thomas dissented when it came time to approve the ordinance.
“I can do everything else except for mandatory bear cans,” Thomas said. He said he thinks the cost of a bear-resistant container is an unfair burden on residents, adding that he’s heard of several instances where the containers failed to stop bears from accessing trash.
Mayor Douglas Olerud said while the ordinance lists a bear-proof can as an acceptable way to secure attractants, it isn’t required. Under the ordinance, a resident could secure an attractant using an electric fence or an enclosed structure like a garage.
Lapp said he would prefer to try to correct the borough’s unsecured bear attractant problem through an educational effort, rather than through the creation of additional rules.
Rogers said he thinks the assembly should evaluate the ordinance’s effectiveness at the end of the 2021 bear season.
Enforcement will be a big piece of the successful implementation of the new law, according to the borough’s Bear Task Force, which initially proposed the ordinance. Prior to passage of the ordinance, the borough already had a bear attractant law on the books, although it was seldom enforced.
“(The former code was) so vague. It (left) it all up to police officers’ interpretation to enforce. I’m hoping (these changes) will be helpful and will let people know what they’re supposed to do,” Bear Task Force chair Derek Poinsette said in a February interview.
The task force is currently working on a proposal for the assembly to hire a “wildlife tech” to assist with bear attractant education and enforcement this year.
The new bear attractant law is part of an ongoing effort to reduce human-bear conflict in the borough. Unsecured attractants like fruit trees, garbage and livestock feed provide a food source for bears in years when natural foods like berries and salmon are scarce, and habituate the bears to coming into town to look for food, according to Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) wildlife biologists.
Last year, Haines saw a massive uptick in bear-caused property damage and bears killed in defense of life or property. Fourteen were killed outside of hunting season in the Haines townsite. Thirty were killed in the entirety of Game Management Unit 1D, which includes both Haines and Skagway outside the hunt. In response, ADFG has drastically reduced the brown bear harvest limit this year to seven bears and no more than two females.