By Anthony Corea

PG BEAR BINS

Local’s pushing for Bear Bins after multiple bear sightings

Aug 18, 2021 | 6:14 PM

PRINCE GEORGE– With multiple bear sightings within Prince George last week and many people taking to Facebook asking others to lock up their garbage, some people are demanding the city to put some money toward Bear Bins.

A petition posted on change.org asking the City Council to do something about the problem is quickly gaining signatures and being shared around Facebook. Others are worried that it might be dangerous having bears walking around in the communities.

Garth Frizzell says as much as the city would love bear bins there are some big factors to consider.

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“The big challenge is that Bear Bins are five times the cost of a regular bin. While that’d be an ideal situation it’s really just getting the costs and benefits together before we make a big plunge like that, because nobody wants to have unsafe bear bins”

The city of Prince George does have Bear Bylaws in place and many tips and tricks on how to prevent bears getting into garbage. In 2019, the City implemented a pilot project involving the supply of bear resistant garbage carts to residences in a neighbourhood in the Hart. However the city says that before anything can be done, the project will need to be completed and reviewed before a Strategy can go before Council for the required funding approval.

Nicole Botten from the Northern Bear Awareness Society says the city is about 2/3rds of the way from becoming a “Bear Smart” community and that she loves seeing all the support on Facebook, of people reminding others to keep their garbage indoors.

With Prince George having an average of 890 bear sighting calls a year over the past decade and bears trying to fatten up before their hibernation, it remains to be see how the city handles the Bear Bins situation.