Managing Attractants

The key to creating a Bear Smart Community is not to attract bears in the first place. Securing attractants is the single best way to keep people safe, prevent property damage, and avoid the unnecessary killing of bears.

Attractants need to be addressed at all levels and in all parts of the community. This requires individual residents, visitors, and recreationists to secure attractants from bears at home, at work, or when out in the community. But it also requires municipal, regional, and provincial or state governments to provide large-scale bear-resistant waste management systems and manage attractants in public spaces.

When it comes to securing attractants at a community-wide level, it’s also useful to consider cost assistance programs for individuals who need help affording bear-resistant infrastructure. Education is also essential to ensure community members know about bears in the area, what actions they should or are required to take (if bylaws or ordinances are in place), and general bear safety. Having a Bear Smart Community committee or working group can be useful when working through some of these elements.

Below, we’ve listed some main categories of attractants that a community must address. Each dropdown provides considerations for managing these attractants at a community level and where to find more information. Refer to our Bear Attractants Guide to learn more about specific attractants.

  • Garbage is often one of the main causes of conflict with bears. Reducing bears’ access to a community’s waste requires a multi-tiered, multi-stakeholder approach. Securing waste needs to be tackled at all levels: at homes and businesses, in public spaces, and at collection and disposal sites. And waste in all forms—garbage, as well as recycling and compost—needs to be secured.

    Head to our Municipal Waste Management page to learn about securing waste at homes, around town, and at collection and disposal sites.

    If you are working to secure residential waste and want information geared toward residents, refer to information in the Live section. This flyer from People and Carnivores can also be useful.

  • Green spaces—parks, trail networks, playgrounds, golf courses, ski hills, undeveloped areas adjacent to the community, and other spaces—are not only attractive to people for recreation, but also to bears for food and security. Learn about removing plants that are attractive to bears and removing other vegetative cover on our Green Space Management page.

    Make sure all garbage cans in public spaces are switched to bear-resistant versions. Learn more on our Municipal Waste Management page.

    When possible, provide signage at trailheads and information kiosks with relevant bear safety information. This can include information about securing attractants, food storage requirements, bear activity in the area, and other bear safety tips.

    While signage is important, it’s just as essential to make sure recreators know about securing attractants before they get to a site. Otherwise, they may not bring the necessary equipment (like bear-resistant containers, locks for bear-resistant coolers, or bear spray) and may still go on their adventure without it. Learn more about how to get information out to specific audiences on our Education and Outreach page.

    If you’re conducting outreach to recreators, you can find information and materials geared toward them in the Recreate section.

  • Refer to our Securing Household Attractants page for information on attractants commonly found around homes and how individuals can best address them.

    When trying to get residents to take action, try working with individual HOAs or neighborhood groups. Working with a small group, rather than all of the residents in a town, can help with targeting high conflict areas and building residents’ interest in a Bear Smart Community initiative.

  • Refer to our Municipal Waste Management page for more information on how businesses can secure garbage, grease, and other waste.

    More information for business owners can be found on our Businesses and Restaurants page.

  • Refer to our Jobsites page for more information on how to secure attractants at these sites.

    Related to construction sites, consider how community expansion can take attractant security into account from the start of construction via growth management plans, HOA language requirements, and other community planning documents.

  • If you’re in an agricultural community, local farms and ranches provide great value to the community and can play a critical role in preventing conflicts with bears.

    Refer to our Farms, Ranches, and Orchards page to learn more about specific tools and tactics to secure attractants on these properties. Information targeted at beekeepers can be found here.

    To scale up individual actions, communities can work toward creating programs that support ranchers and farmers in purchasing and implementing conflict prevention tools and practices. Carcass composting facilities work well on this scale. Compensation programs can be vital for supporting livelihoods. Having conflict prevention tools (items like temporary electric fence kits and scare devices) available to loan out from local nonprofits or wildlife management agencies when conflicts arise suddenly can be helpful, too.