Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Wildlife Management topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Councilor cites Fish, Wildlife & Parks recommendations: public apple trees and bird feeders draw bears, deer disease concern
Summary
Councilor Rebecca outlined recommendations from state wildlife experts to remove apple trees from public lands and ask residents to remove bird feeders in spring and summer to reduce bear attractants and chronic wasting disease risk among deer.
Councilor Rebecca used her council comments on Jan. 6 to summarize wildlife-management recommendations she has discussed with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks and to explain why the city has considered removing some public apple trees.
Rebecca said the city's bear-management specialist and Fish, Wildlife & Parks advised that apple trees on public lands can attract bears and increase hazardous human-bear interactions. She also said fallen apples can act as an environmental reservoir for chronic wasting disease in deer, noting that soil under apple trees can retain the disease agent for up to two years and pose a risk to deer that visit those trees.
Rebecca said the city currently runs a gleaning program and has not yet removed public apple trees, but that Glacier National Park previously removed apple trees around Lake McDonald decades ago to reduce human-bear conflicts. She also relayed a recommendation that residents remove bird feeders during spring and summer months because feeders and resulting ground food can attract bears and other wildlife to yards and decks.
Rebecca prefaced her remarks by saying these are recommendations from subject-matter experts and not her unilateral proposals. She also thanked the council for discussing compensation for the mayor and council and noted volunteerism remains a strong tradition in Whitefish.
