BANFF – With no bylaw in place to ban fruit trees in the national park townsite, residents are reminded to voluntarily cut down crabapple trees, or pick the fruit to keep hungry bears out of backyards this fall.
Parks Canada wildlife officials say there have been several sightings of black bears in the Tunnel Mountain area over the past week, but no known incidents of bears getting into fruit trees so far.
“Crabapples are a definite attractant to bears and we’ve been relatively fortunate we haven’t had a lot of bears in town over the past few years, but we still occasionally get the odd one that slips in,” said Blair Fyten, a human-wildlife coexistence specialist for Banff National Park.
“If they did happen to come across an attractant such as crabapples, it’s quite a feast for them, and once they kind of get a taste for it they keep on trying to slip back into town and eat that food source, which presents a public safety problem with bears in town.”
The Bow Valley human-wildlife coexistence task force, which released 28 recommendations in 2018 to reduce the number and severity of encounters between people and bears, identified trees laden with fruit as a significant wildlife attractant.
Bears that learn there is food in town will come back again-and-again, putting both bears and residents in harm’s way. Bears can become bold and aggressive, which has led to relocation and the death of bears in order to protect public safety.
Before being shot and killed by a hunter in B.C in in 2017, it was not uncommon for famous female grizzly bear No.148 to feast on crabapple trees in yards on the periphery of the townsite.
Following the release of the task force’s recommendations, reducing and potentially eliminating wildlife attractants became a priority for Banff town council in its 2019-21 strategic plan.
In late 2018, council directed administration to get a legal opinion as to whether or not a bylaw could be created authorizing the municipality to remove existing fruit-bearing trees and shrubs on private property.
Tony Clark, the Town’s municipal enforcement manager, said the Town’s lawyers clarified that the municipality can lawfully require property owners and occupiers to manage fruit-bearing trees and shrubs so as to not create animal attractants.
He said the Town of Banff also has the legal authority to prohibit the planting of trees and shrubs that produce wildlife attractants.
“It was noted, however, that a court would be reluctant to enforce a municipal bylaw that required the removal of existing fruit bearing trees – those trees planted prior to the adoption of an amending bylaw – especially taking into account the availability of lesser measures,” said Clark in a report to the governance and finance committee in September.
The Municipal Government Act does authorize a bylaw officer to issue an Order to Remedy when a someone is contravening a municipal bylaw, which can direct that any measures necessary be taken to resolve the contravention.
Clark said that an order to remedy could be issued against an individual refusing to comply with the bylaw with respect to managing animal attractants.
“The order would identify that if the person did not take the required action to rectify a contravention within the time specified, the Town could proceed to take the necessary action to prevent the offence from continuing,” he said.
Banff’s Community Standards Bylaw speaks to controlling and managing wildlife attractants. Amendments on the table include requiring animal attractants be effectively managed anywhere within the boundaries of the townsite.
Meanwhile, the existing Banff design guidelines contain a list of recommended plant materials, but no specific prohibitions with regards to animal attractants.
Clark said a list of prohibited trees and shrubs that act as animal attractants has been incorporated into the working draft as part of a review and update of those design guidelines.
“What we don’t have is a prohibited species list. That is being developed, but it’s likely not going to be ready until quarter one in 2021,” he said.
“We will eventually get there with prohibited trees and shrubs.”
Fyten said previous fruit tree removal programs in town have proven somewhat successful, but there are still many trees that are of concern.
“There’s a few that are fairly close to wildlife corridors and we’ve had bears in them in the past and for various reasons people don’t want to remove those trees,” he said, despite Parks Canada encouraging them to do so.
“Some of these trees are a little deeper into the town. Once you’ve got a bear in those spots, it’s a little bit more problematic to try and get that bear back out to a safe area for bears and people.”
Parks Canada advises residents who are not willing to cut down their fruit trees to pick the apples.
“We’re not asking people just to pick them off the ground once they fall, but to actually pick all the crabapples in the trees,” said Fyten.
“Bears will find these tress and seek out these apples.”
Meanwhile, the Town of Banff did develop a three-year marketing campaign in 2019 to target areas identified in the human-wildlife coexistence report, including concerns around fruit trees.
The total campaign cost was $67,000 in 2019, $35,000 in 2020 and $45,000 in 2021.
However, the strategy for 2020 was being rolled out when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and all existing public education campaigns were halted. Any unspent money budgeted for the 2020 campaign was eliminated to help reduce the municipal property taxes levy.
Council is expected to determine in the service review for 2021 what aspects of the communications plan will move forward.
Council’s 2019-21 strategic plan calls for implementing municipal actions, policies and public education to preserve and minimize impact on the diversity and health of Banff's natural system, including wildlife, fauna, and ecological systems.
The goal is to have zero human-wildlife conflict incidents in the townsite, and no relocations or destructions of large carnivores like bears and wolves that have shown up in town.
“Reducing and potentially eliminating wildlife attractants within the townsite is key to achieving these targets,” said Clark.
