Wrong tack

Dear editor:
Whatever your beliefs are about the spring bear hunt pilot project, don’t expect to see any of the results promised by the government.
Denying the facts about this issue doesn’t mean they don’t exist.
Residents’ concerns about public safety and nuisance bear activity will not be addressed by a spring bear hunt as promised by Natural Resources minister David Orazietti.
Decades of field research by world-leading bear experts across North America, including the MNR’s own respected biologists, all conclude that increasing harvests (as with a spring bear hunt), did not work in the past, nor will it work in the future to address these issues.
A hunt cannot target a bear that might become a problem, and in many cases it leaves a territory open for another bear that might be even more of a problem, thus creating a useless cycle.
Baiting bears across the landscape also provides a potential for habituation of bears to non-natural attractants, which increases the probability of bears coming into communities.
Randomly removing bears from the population provides a hunting opportunity, orphaning of cubs, and possibly a small increase in revenue for a few outfitters. But it will not reduce human/bear conflicts.
If we truly want to deal with the root causes of this issue, we need to heed the recommendations of the experts and implement the “BearWise” program in a more proactive manner.
“BearWise” is a proven approach to deal with human/bear conflict and was designed by those who truly understand what is needed.
The failure of the “BearWise” program to provide more dramatic results was not due to its design, but rather the lack of a complete implementation and ongoing commitment to “BearWise” by communities.
Failure to implement the recommendations of their bear hazard assessments resulted in limited success.
If “BearWise” is to work, it needs the support of the local residents and elected officials, as well as strict enforcement of attractant bylaws.
To effectively address the public safety issue, one sure way is to educate residents on recreating safely in bear country—and “BearWise” provides this information for residents.
A recent three-year study found that more than half of attacks across North America, including the serious one near Cochrane and the one near Peterborough, involved an unleashed dog.
Dog owners need be aware of this.
All residents in bear country have a responsibility to become part of the solution and stop looking at proposals, such as the spring bear hunt, which will have little or no effect on the problem.
Consider how you might help further implement “BearWise” in your community to achieve the positive results we have experienced.
In the 10th year of our “BearWise” program in Elliot Lake, it is still working!
(Signed),
Jim Johnston,
Friends of
Algoma East,
Elliot Lake, Ont.