La Plata County, Mancos and Silverton will direct funds to trash containers and code enforcement<\/p>\n
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La Plata County and the towns of Silverton and Mancos will use Colorado Parks and Wildlife grant money to reduce human-bear conflicts through improved trash receptacles and code enforcement. (Durango Herald file)<\/p>\n
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It\u2019s the height of bear season in Southwest Colorado, and with perfect timing, grant money from Colorado Parks and Wildlife is being put to use in La Plata County, Mancos and Silverton.<\/p>\n
The Good Food Collective was awarded $44,000 to provide bear-resistant trash cans in Mancos, including for neighborhoods and school trash receptacles. The town of Silverton received $21,000 to help cover the cost of a code enforcement officer, and the La Plata County Bear Working Group is finally putting a $30,000 grant it received two years ago toward incentivizing more bear-resistant trash cans in the county.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrash remains the No. 1 source of creating human-bear conflict,\u201d said CPW spokesman John Livingston. \u201cIt\u2019s great to have it (grant dollars), here in the southwest, where we have among some of the highest rates of human-bear conflict in the state.\u201d<\/p>\n
This year marks the fourth cycle of the CPW Human-Bear Conflict Reduction Community Grant Program, which allocates $1 million to communities across Colorado working to reduce human-bear conflict, Livingston said.<\/p>\n
In Silverton, the funding will allow the town to hire a full-time code enforcement officer during peak bear season to educate residents and enforce newly adopted trash ordinances. After a bear incident last year that resulted in the death of a mother bear, Silverton passed stricter trash codes, but the town previously had only enough money to fund 25% of the officer\u2019s salary, Livingston said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a great win for their community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In La Plata County, the Bear Working Group will use its $30,00 grant to support a rebate program run by Bear Smart Durango. The funding will provide $100 rebates to 300 county residents who switch to bear-resistant trash cans.<\/p>\n
Typically, trash service providers supply cans when residents sign up, but switching to bear-resistant cans costs an extra $10 to $20 a month compared with standard service, said Bryan Peterson, Bear Smart Durango organizer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe tried to figure out the best use of $30,000 in grant funding, because that doesn\u2019t buy a whole lot of bear-resistant trash cans,\u201d Peterson said. \u201cSo to get the most bang for the buck, we thought of this rebate program.\u201d<\/p>\n