Canmore paying residents to remove fruit trees to help reduce bear encounters

Canmore, Alta. -

The Town of Canmore is once again offering to cover the costs for residents to remove fruit trees from their property in an effort to cut back on bear encounters.

The town's fruit tree removal incentive program covers 100 per cent of removal costs on private property up to $500.  

"It's part of the town's effort to support human-wildlife coexistence," said Caitlin Van Gaal, Canmore's supervisor of environment and sustainability.

"We don't want to draw wildlife into town, and then if they do come to town, we don't want to give them a reason to stay."

Van Gaal says the average cost to cut down a fruit tree is typically less than $300.

The program originally launched in 2019. At that time, the town paid 50 percent of a fruit tree removal cost, but the program has since been revamped.

Van Gaal says since then, about 85 trees were removed, including 54 last year.

"There's a lot of reasons people like to keep their tree," she said. "For shade, sentimental al value, but we're really encouraging them to take a look at it again and see what they can do to protect human safety as well as bear safety.

"If they don't want to remove the tree, we ask that they remove the fruit, so they can't let fruit ripen on the trees come this time of year."

The town has penalties in place through its community standards bylaw for home owners who permit fruit, berries or attractants to be accessible to wildlife on trees, bushes or the ground.

Fines range between $250 to $1,000.

"The three main fruit-bearing vegetation that we've tackled through this program are crab apples, mountain ash and choke cherry," said Van Gaal. "As well as Buffalo Berry, which is more of a shrub."

Nick de Ruyter is the program director for Wildsmart at the Biosphere Institute in the Bow Valley, an organization that is helping the residents learn about the dangers of fruit trees.

"We really want to not only keep people safe, but also keep those bears out of trouble, and other animals out of trouble," said De Ruyter.

"Just take away that easy meal, because there's other food for them. They can eat outside of town, but they go for whatever is easiest, and whatever gives the most calories, so we want to try and minimize that."

He says the berry crop in the Bow Valley this year has been exceptional and the bears want to pack on the pounds to get them through the winter.

"The past few years, the berry crop has been terrible," he said. "So they're still hungry, they're looking for food. They follow their nose and come through town, so things like fruit trees, garbage, those things, they smell that and they come for, if they can access it, those are easy meals for them."

De Ruyter says it's never good for people or wildlife when a bear repeatedly comes to Canmore to eat.

"You know, if they're on the outskirts, they can duck in and out (of town) more undetected," he said.

"But once a bear gets downtown – and last fall, we had quite a few bears downtown – that's when they typically get into trouble, and most of the time they leave here in a trap and get either relocated or destroyed."

Town officials and Wildsmart both say it will take years to remove all the fruit trees from Canmore, but know it's an effort that will keep residents, visitors and bears safe in the mountain town.