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12/26/00 KINGS BEACH, CA (AP) -Bears soon may find their search for food
more frustrating on Lake Tahoe's north shore.
Bear-proof garbage containers would have to be installed at all new
Placer County houses at Tahoe under a plan being considered by county
supervisors.
Earlier this month, the North Tahoe Regional Advisory Council decided to
urge supervisors to impose the requirement on all new homes constructed
above 5,000 feet in the county
At the same time, council members recommended that all home remodeling
work exceeding $3,000 require the installation of the containers.
Ann Bryant, founder of a citizens group formed to reduce human-bear
conflicts at Tahoe, said the requirement would help discourage bears
from heading into residential areas in search of an easy meal.
"If you're gonna live here, you've gotta live here
responsibly," Bryant told the Tahoe World newspaper. "There's
always people who won't (install a bear-proof container) no matter what,
unless there's a law"
Bryant, president of the BEAR League, told the council that a large
majority of the calls she receives concern garbage-related incidents.
The trash containers under consideration are large, tight-seamed, metal
boxes that cost about $800.
"The only time a bear gets into them is if the person forgets to
latch (the doors)," Bryant said. But she said many of the boxes now are being built with a new latch
mechanism that makes it more difficult to leave them open.
Many Tahoe homes now have visually appealing wooden trash containers
along streets. While the containers offer more protection than regular
trash cans, they pose little challenge to bears.
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