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Letter to Editor
ShareBear money approved
By Cameron Orr - Kitimat Northern Sentinel
Published: October 01, 2008 6:00 AM
Funding has finally arrived to hire a consultant to study the bear situation in Kitimat.
However, the long sought after money may have come too late to make a difference this year.
The provincial Environment ministry has provided $10,000 to hire the consultant to get some facts on bear paths in town, the worst areas in the community, and other matters regarding bear conflicts here.
The money was applied for through the city and the consultant will work closely with the Bear Care group.
Joanne Monaghan, chairman of the Bear Care Committee, said the group will use the results of the study to advance their goal of reducing bear-human conflicts.
While she hopes to use the money advantageously, Monaghan noted that it has taken a long time to get this funding, something she’s been seeking since May.
“It’s kind of late,” she said. “I don’t know where they were all this time, but we’ll do what we can with it.”
The problem getting the money now is that, by the time they advertise for applicants and select one, the bear season will be over for this year.
That means any findings/recommendations from the consultant’s study could not be applied until next year.
Monaghan was unsure how long it would take to complete the study.
As of September 19, the Conservation Service - based in Terrace - had received 287 complaints from Kitimat concerning black bears and another 44 involving grizzlies.
Kitimat complaints amounted to just over half of the total received across the entire North Coast zone.
