Town officials hope new bylaw will deter increasing bear activity in Canmore

Officials in Canmore say there has been increased bear activity around the Alberta town as the animals search for food before winter — and are hoping a new bylaw will help to discourage it.

"The end of August, beginning of September is when the bears are hunting for berries," said Caitlin Miller, manager of protective services with the Town of Canmore.

"And there's not a lot of berries up top, so they're coming down and looking [around town]."

But Canmore's new Community Standards Bylaw — which came into effect on Aug. 16 — seeks to give bears less to munch on.

It restricts locals from planting new fruit-bearing vegetation, though existing fruit trees and bushes are allowed to remain.

Miller said residents can also be fined for letting fruit accumulate on their properties, and are restricted from leaving wildlife attractants like food outside.

"It's not enough to pick up the fruit once it falls off the tree. They need to be actively taking it off the tree as it ripens," she said.

The bylaw is a consolidation of several that existed previously, and has been made more general so that it's easier to enforce, Miller said.

As for those enforcing it, their work has included public education, proactive patrols and more recently, a few tickets.

Entry-level fines are $250 and can go up to $10,000. But the educational component comes first, Miller said.

"We want to make sure people know what the rules are and why they're in place," she said.

That means helping people understand that food sources such as barbecues and pet foods can attract an unwanted visitors, Miller said.

Big draws also include choke cherries, crab apples, mountain ash berries and buffalo berries.

Resources are also available for locals who need to get fruit-bearing trees and bushes into shape. For example, the Town of Canmore offers a Voluntary Fruit Tree Removal Incentive Program.