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Conservation Advisory Council plans BearWise outreach; some residents question effectiveness
Summary
The Conservation Advisory Council announced a BearWise education and outreach campaign with DEC input and a July 26 Farmers' Market outreach; a public commenter urged the town to consider alternatives, arguing BearWise alone is insufficient.
The Conservation Advisory Council (CAC) reported progress on a Natural Resource Inventory and announced a BearWise public-education campaign to reduce human-bear interactions.
"Our next project is to create a BearWise campaign ... to adopt a campaign that will keep both bears and people safe and reduce the number of interactions between the two," CAC Chair Beth Waterman said, adding the CAC plans outreach and an action plan and that the DEC bear biologist has been consulted. The CAC will present education materials at the July 26 Farmers' Market.
At public comment, Shannon Ryan, who said she held a baiting license for 15 years and worked with the DEC, criticized BearWise as primarily educational and questioned its effectiveness in the face of more people and attractants. "The BearWise program, I think if you talk to other townships, you're gonna find out that it doesn't work great," Shannon said, and suggested alternative measures including pushing for a spring bear season or controlled baiting. Board members said they would pass the concern to the parks committee and CAC for consideration.
