Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Colorado Parks and Wildlife outlines bear mitigation options, habitat connectivity and herd concerns
Summary
CPW wildlife supervisor Matt Yamashita advised the Pitkin County commissioners that the agency can advise on bear conflicts and landscape connectivity but does not make county operational decisions; he urged collaborative study of landfill mitigation, emphasized habitat protection and improvement, and warned that elk recruitment metrics are below sustainable thresholds.
Matt Yamashita, supervisor in wildlife for Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), briefed the Pitkin County Board on Feb. 10 about human–wildlife conflicts, habitat‑connectivity work and population health of local herds.
Bear activity and landfill mitigation: Yamashita acknowledged ongoing public concern about black bears using the Pitkin County landfill. He said CPW’s role is to manage wildlife populations and advise communities on mitigation, but county operational choices (for example, landfill design or fencing) remain local decisions. CPW staff described potential mitigation tools — including electric fencing used successfully in other contexts —…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
