City charts course for action on bear issue
More staff, a public information campaign, enforcement, stronger Dumpster lids and "rules of engagement" are on the city's radar in planning for next summer's bears, according to Mayor Sally Smith.
City staff and local officials sat down Tuesday to discuss bear strategy, Smith said.
"I feel good about it," she said. "I'm sorry the meeting didn't happen a lot earlier, but it's clear the issues have been at the front of people's minds or we wouldn't have been able to do all we did within an hour."
Over the winter, the city will consider hiring another community service officer for the Juneau Police Department to deal with bear issues on a full- or part-time basis. The position would be contingent on finding money in next year's budget, Smith said.
In addition, staff members will check on whether affordable metal lids are available for city Dumpsters and evaluate how state law addresses Dumpster lids, she said. Bears can get around plastic lids to reach garbage.
"The object is to ban plastic lids. That's the direction we're headed, although we're not altogether sure what latitude we have on that," Smith said.
Meanwhile, the city's Community Development Department will plan a bear-related public information campaign for the spring. And the Juneau Police Department and the state Department of Fish and Game will work on formal "rules of engagement" to determine when bears need to be relocated or killed and who should handle individual bear calls. Enforcement will be another focus area, Smith said.
While Mark Farmer, chairman of the mayor's Ad Hoc Urban Bear Committee, doesn't expect drastic changes in bear activity next summer, the city is making progress, he said.
"I feel fairly good about (Tuesday's) meeting. I feel better than I have in a long time about this whole issue," he said.
After a Nov. 1 Assembly retreat at which bears weren't discussed, Smith assigned the issue to the Assembly's Planning and Policy Committee and Chairman Dale Anderson. The committee also deals with tourism, the Capitol complex and downtown issues.
City Manager Dave Palmer, Anderson, Smith and Farmer attended the meeting Tuesday, as did representatives from the state Department of Fish and Game, the Juneau Police Department and other city staff members.
The meeting was planned before photographer and urban bear advocate Pat Costello resigned from the city's bear committee last week, Smith said. Costello cited a lack of city action on bear issues in his resignation letter.
Farmer said the mayor's decision to assign bear issues to the Planning and Policy Committee will help and he expects the role of the bear committee to diminish. The areas the city has decided to work on were his top priorities, he said.
"I'm behind what they're doing, although it's not as far as I would like to go," he said. "If they do what they say they're going to do next year, we're only going to do better."
At a meeting Monday, Assembly member Jeannie Johnson said metal Dumpster lids and a public education campaign are things she'd like to see addressed.
"I do support the work of the (bear) committee and I'm sure we all do," Johnson said. "It's important that work continue through the winter."
Marc Wheeler, the Assembly appointee to the bear committee, also lists metal lids and public education as feasible options.
"I understand the frustration with government not moving quickly. Things don't happen overnight and we're working through the process," he said.
Joanna Markell can be reached at joannam@juneauempire.com.