Community Resources

Report bear in trash incidents
Both the city and county bear and trash ordinances are complaint-based: meaning that enforcement agencies rely on residents to report incidents of bears getting into trash. Please report bear in trash incidents! If you are uncomfortable reporting incidents, contact Bear Smart Durango or 970-749-4262.

CITY RESIDENTS:

• City Code Enforcement |  970-375-4930

COUNTY RESIDENTS:

• Central Dispatch  |  970-385-2900

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All local waste haulers now offer fully-automated IGBC-certified residential bear-resistant trash containers.

All but Phoenix Recycling offer commercial bear-resistant dumpsters.

• City of Durango  |  970-375-5004
• Phoenix Recycling  |  970-375-1300
• WCA Transit Waste  |  970-247-0646
• Waste Management  |  970-247-1821

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Electric fencing distributors in Durango and Bayfield.

Agritek Fence
29270 US-160 | Durango, CO | 970-247-3010

Basin Coop
26103 US-160 | Durango, CO | 970-247-3066

Tractor Supply Co.
1175 Dominguez Dr | Durango, CO | 970-375-6283

Lewis True Value Mercantile
311 Bayfield Center Dr | Bayfield, CO | 970-884-9502

Valley Feed And Ranch Supply
39987 US-160 | Bayfield, CO | 970-884-2400

 

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Do you have extra fruit – or could use some?

To learn more about how you can help save bears, reduce waste and feed the community, visit The Good Food Collective.

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Have a bear trying to get into your home, garage or shed?
Download instructions for building an unwelcome mat or electric unwelcome mat.

• Unwelcome mat
• Electric unwelcome mat

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New Homebuyers Guide
New to the area or a realtor with new homebuyers? View the New Homebuyers Guide here.

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Bear Calorie Counter
See a chart detailing the calories in common food attractants that attract bears, courtesy of the book, “Living with Bears: A Practical Guide to Bear Country”.

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For Teachers
Bear Smart Durango provides free educational programs about black bear ecology and human-bear conflict in the SW Colorado region to schools and groups. We can tailor program topics and times to other groups as well. For more information, please contact Erin Bohm at erinbohm@gmail.com.

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Tahoe Bear Busters
Watch this short video to see examples of home deterrent services offered by Tahoe Bear Busters in Lake Tahoe, Nevada – including electric door mats and electric fencing systems for doors, windows, decks, sheds and more.

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Bear Activity Summary Reports
Click on the links below to view year-end Summary Reports of Bear Sightings and Incident reports in the City of Durango and La Plata County.

• 2010 Summary Report
• 2011 Summary Report
• 2012 Summary Report

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Bear Sighting and Incident Maps
Mapping of Bear Sightings and Incidents in the City of Durango and La Plata County. GIS mapping was graciously donated by Ecosphere Environmental Services.

• 2010 Bear Sightings & Incidents Map
• 2011 Bear Sightings & Incidents Map
• 2012 Bear Sightings & Incidents Map

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Aspen Black Bear Ecology Study
Human-bear conflicts are increasing in Colorado despite current strategies that target people and bears. Sharon Baruch-Mordo studied the two sides of the human-bear conflict equation in Aspen, Colorado in a collaborative project between CSU, Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the National Wildlife Research Center. She tracked bear movements and foraging behavior to better understand the degree of urbanization of Aspen bears and evaluated the effectiveness of education and enforcement in changing human behavior to better secure attractants from bears.  Read more about the study here.

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CPW Durango Bear Study
Colorado Parks and Wildlife is conducting a multi-year study on black bears and human-bear conflict in the Durango area. Read a Summary of the study.  The City of Durango was chosen for the study based on:

• a high history of human-bear conflict
• a good record of human-bear conflict reporting
• the feasibility of conducting a trash removal experiment
• the minimal amount of bear-proofing of trash city-wide

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Links you may have missed:

• Alberta Government: Proper use of bear spray
• Bear-resistant container testing program
• Video of the bear-resistant container testing
• More information about bear spray

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Scientific Papers:

• The Carrot or the Stick? Evaluation of Education and Enforcement as Management Tools for Human-Wildlife Conflicts
• Principles of Human-Bear Conflict Reduction
• How agencies respond to human–black bear conflicts: a survey of wildlife agencies in North America
• Going into the 21st Century: A perspective on trends and controversies in the management of the American Black Bear
• Evaluation of deterrent techniques on altering behavior of black bears
• A retrospective evaluation of the effectiveness of aversive conditioning on grizzly bears…
• Does Aversive Conditioning Reduce Human-Bear Conflict?
• Bear reintroductions: Lessons and challenges
• A Tool Box Half Full: How Social Science can Help Solve Human-Wildlife Conflict
• Fatal Attacks by American Black Bear on People: 1900-2009

URBAN BEARS

• Socially learned foraging behavior in wild black bears, Ursus americanus
• Rapid ecological and behavioral changes in carnivores: the responses of black bears (Ursus americanus) to altered food
• Trans fatty acids provide evidence of anthropogenic feeding by black bears
• Predicting spacial distribution of human-black bear interactions in urban areas
• Black bear ecology and human-bear interactions in an urban system
• Human-Black Bear Interactions in Missoula, Montana

BEAR SPRAY

• Efficacy of Bear Deterrent Spray in Alaska
• Efficacy of Firearms For Bear Deterrence in Alaska
• Bear Spray Vs. Bullets: Which offers better protection?

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Colorado Parks and Wildlife officer speaks out on putting down bears
Chris Parmeter, district wildlife manager for Colorado Parks and Wildlife in the Gunnison Basin, writes about the part of his job that he
hates – having to kill bears because residents aren’t keeping trash, bird feeders and other attractants from bears.

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Think you can distinguish between black bears and grizzlies? Take the test.

• Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks: Bear Identification Program

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In an interview with a CBS Denver News station, Ed Wiseman discusses killing the last known grizzly bear in Colorado in 1979.

Unwelcome mat photo courtesy: Kevin Wright, Colorado Parks and Wildlife
Bear Calorie Counter chart courtesy: Linda Masterson
Bear at window courtesy: Tahoe Bear Busters
Aspen Bear Study photo courtesy: Sharon Baruch-Mordo