Dear Editor,
I am responding to the recent bear shooting at Millennium Park and think that there are logical ways to prevent such things from happening.
It’s quite simple: have garbage pick up weekly to stop enticing bears and making them garbage bears.
Millennium park is natural bear habitat. The Columbia River is a natural path for bears. If we chose to build a park in their habitat, I don’t think it is right to kill them every time they are seen.
I live downtown and bears are normally only a late summer and fall occurrence, but they have been introduced to the smells of rotting garbage with the new bi-weekly schedule of garbage pick up.
We need to protect the environment, which is a big money maker for Castlegar and Canada as a whole.
People travel here from around the world to see our wildlife. We need to start living with our animals more effectively. If we stop building frivolous things in the community and spend tax dollars wisely, like weekly garbage pick up, we can help to deter animal issues.
I hope people will speak up for the animals that can’t talk. We need to leave some riverside for natural habitat so that our community can continue to be known for it’s beautiful nature.
If our nature is marketed in an environmentally friendly way, Castlegar has so much to gain in the way of tourism and over all perfect balance for its citizens….or it will all disappear and the land will be void of what we all love.
Debbie Ursulak
Castlegar