County makes move to curtail hungry bears

Douglas County made a move Thursday to send hungry black bears packing by

unanimously approving the first reading of an ordinance which would require

tamper-proof trash containers at homes already hit twice by nuisance

animals.

Lisa Granahan, assistant to the county manager, pointed out that if adopted,

the ordinance is not mandatory for all residents.

"Only after two violations within two years, does the ordinance require

installation of a bear-proof container," she said.

She also pointed out that the law has been in effect at the Tahoe basin for

several years and to date, no one has been required to purchase the trash

container which costs from $200-$700.

The first reading passed following about an hour¹s discussion on the black

bear problem which exploded in Carson Valley over the summer.

In July and August, Nevada Department of Wildlife dispatchers received 4,792

calls about bears from Douglas and Washoe county residents, up from 3,704

calls in 2006. The number of department responses doubled from 207 in July

to 408 in August, according to figures presented to commissioners.

Those statistics did not stop the board from refusing to hand over more

money to the department which is responsible for managing the black bear

population and answering nuisance calls.

Ken Mayer, director of the department, told commissioners costs in Washoe

and Douglas counties increased about 50 percent this year to an estimated

$167,385.

He did not request a specific figure from commissioners, but earlier, state

officials asked the county for $50,000.

During public comment, ranchers Frank Godecke and Patricia Settelmeyer

placed the responsibility for the increased nuisance black bears with state

officials.

"I don¹t think the Department of Wildlife has done the job managing the

population," Godecke said. "For 50 years, you¹ve let bears procreate and now

there are more bears than habitat to support them."

He dismissed an argument that the bears were moving into the area because of

the drought.

"We had droughts in the '70s, '80s and '90s, worse than this, and not had this

problem. A bunch of bears were allowed to procreate and come down to the

Valley to get easy pickings.

"If my cows were allowed to run down Main Street and munch on everybody¹s

lawn, there would be a lot of complaints," Godecke said.

Settelmeyer said she was concerned about the safety of her grandchildren and

livestock.

"I¹m not in favor of killing anything, but you have to be able to protect

our children," she said. "Anytime a bear goes after something that has a

heartbeat, you¹re in danger."

Bettyarlene Rodal, who lives along Foothill Road, said she joined the Bear

League for training and so she could find a peaceful solution to the

problem. She said she¹d taken three calls Thursday morning from residents

reporting bears on their property.

"Lethal forms (of management) are scary," Rodal said. "If you do have to

kill a bear, you better know how to do it."

Rodal said communities where residents used bear-proof trash containers

practically eliminated the problem of nuisance bears.

"They¹ll resort to being back to natural bears when they realize people are

not nice to be around," she said.

Commissioner David Brady said he supported the bear-proof trash container

ordinance, but was concerned that the towns of Minden and Gardnerville were

exempt.

"Almost every night in Minden, three to five trash containers are

overturned," Brady said.

He said the town refers residents to the Department of Wildlife Web site

which offers tips on protecting property.

"In light of what¹s transpiring of late, that¹s not good enough," said

Brady, a Minden resident. "I think we need a more substantive response."

Since Lake Tahoe residents have voluntarily embraced bear-proof trash

containers, hungry bears have moved to Carson Valley.

Wildlife biologist Carl Lackey told commissioners as they deal with the

problemin steps, the bears will migrate.

"The bear problem at Kingsbury was much more extensive 8-10 years ago before

the introduction of the bear-proof trash containers," Lackey said. "If the

containers had been introduced all at once, that would have dealt with a lot

of the problem. Because Douglas County is doing it in steps, the bear

population will continue to move to areas with more easily accessible food."

Under the ordinance, a violation can only occur if there is documentation of

a bear getting into improperly secured trash. A bear-proof trash container

is required after a bear has been caught raiding the same residence twice in

a two-year period.

A bear-proof collection bin must be installed within 90 days of incident. If

there is another incident within two years, the party will be cited and if

convicted, receive a fine of not less than $100.