With the early arrival of spring across the City of Steamboat Springs, the Steamboat Springs Police department reminds residents of the wildlife protection regulations as bears start to emerge from hibernation. The department responded to its first bear call of the season last night around 9pm when a bear got into an unsecured trash container in a downtown neighborhood.
The city asks for your compliance with the Wildlife Resistant Trash Container ordinance to help keep wildlife where they belong - in the wild. Steamboat Springs City Council adopted the ordinance in 2015 because of the increasing number of bear and other wildlife encounters in town to ensure the safety of the public and animals.
All commercial properties within the city limits, including those used for special events and properties that are the site of construction activities, must use an approved wildlife resistant container at all times when the container is outdoors.
Residential requirements include storing refuse containers (if not approved wildlife resistant containers) indoors at all times except between the hours of 6:00am and 8:00pm on trash pick-up days. Businesses and residential property owners can check with their trash collection company on wildlife resistant options and services.
“Our community is committed to the safety of our wildlife,” said Steamboat Springs Police Commander Annette Dopplick. “Trash, pet food and bird feeders are all wildlife attractors that habituate animals to the urban interface and create potentially dangerous situations between animals and people. Let’s all take that extra step to secure the trash can, use the bear bar on the dumpster and clean-up around the yard.”
The Steamboat Springs Police department will be stepping up enforcement of the ordinance and asks for your assistance in helping keep bears and other wildlife out of trash. Local bear information may be found at the city’s website, www.steamboatsprings.net/bears and Colorado Parks & Wildlife, www.wildlife.state.co/bears. In addition, www.bearsmart.com and www.BeBearAware.org contain additional information.
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Contacts:
Annette Dopplick, Commander – (970) 879-4344 or adopplick@steamboatsprings.net
Michael Lane, Communications Manager – (970) 871-8220 or mlane@steamboatsprings.net