Rossland is seeking people to sit on a group that will give them advice on reducing human-bear conflicts as the city seeks official Bear Smart community status.
Mayor Kathy Moore says council has established a terms of reference for a community advisory task force and is now looking for people willing to volunteer.
“We have to look at what’s required so we can live in harmony with wildlife,” she says. “We always have issues with people not understanding how they’re supposed to deal with their garbage, or not understanding the bears are going to get into just about anything.
“There’s a lot of public education that’s going to happen and some projects that are going to be done. That group will advise council on changes we need to make.”
Rossland has long funded a Bear Aware or WildsafeBC co-ordinator who helps with many of the same things. But achieving Bear Smart status requires meeting certain criteria.
Last year Castlegar became the tenth Bear Smart community in BC.