Intentionally feeding bears in Highlands is now illegal following a unanimous vote by the town board of commissioners.
During the town board’s October meeting, mayor Patrick Taylor presented a bear feeding ordinance.
“What we have seen is people, specifically those who are using vacation rentals for a short stay, have been putting food out and trying to bait the bears so they can see one in person,” Taylor said. “Not only is this practice incredibly dangerous, but it’s bad for the bears because it teaches them to seek out human food and human garbage.”
Commissioner John ‘Buz’ Dotson questioned how the new ordinance would be enforced and what the penalty will be for violators of the ordinance.
“The new ordinance, like many of our town ordinances, will be complaint driven,” Taylor said. “If someone calls the police and suspects that someone on a neighboring property is feeding the bears, the police can go out and check into it. If it is determined that someone is feeding the bears, that person will be fined.”
The Highlands Police Department and officers with the NC Wildlife Resources Commission law enforcement division may enforce the ordinance. The ordinance does not cover bird feeders, which the town determined were not an “intentional” means to feed bears.
Following a unanimous vote to approve the bear feeding ordinance, the board turned its attention to bear-resistant trashcans. Taylor noted that the town voted to implement bear-resistant trash containers several months ago but delayed enforcement of the policy until Nov. 1 due to a backorder of the approved containers.
Taylor noted on Monday that enforcement of the bear-resistant trashcan regulations will officially begin on Nov. 16.
“If you go to our local hardware store there are cans for sale on the floor and that’s the same story at other nearby retailers,” town manager Josh Ward said. “At this point the people who have not switched to the bear-resistant containers are sort of thumbing their nose at the town. The cans are available.”
Highlands Public Works Director Lamar Nix told the board that town sanitation crews will begin putting notices on non-compliant trash containers next week. He added that roughly 75 percent of the town’s trash service customers have already purchased a bear-resistant trashcan.
“For the 25 percent that haven’t already bought a new style can, we need to let them know that time is up,” Nix said. “We will give them a notice and then we’ll give them a grace period for a week or two. After that, we will turn over addresses with non-compliant trashcans to the code enforcement officer with Highlands Police Department.”
The fine for not having a bear-resistant trash container is $50 for each offense.