Advertisement.
The lack of an electrified fence around Fort Smith’s dump has led to multiple bears being “needlessly dispatched,” the territorial government warned the municipality this week.
In a letter posted to a regulatory registry, a Department of Environment and Climate Change water resource officer wrote: “Poor management at the town’s facility is an act of negligence.”
The officer suggested the town could be charged under the Wildlife Act with attracting and feeding bears, and said an order to fix the broken fence would be issued if action was not taken “soon.”
The town told Cabin Radio the fence had been badly damaged during a training exercise in the spring and was set to be electrified again in the next two weeks.
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
“We’ve been actively trying to repair it,” acting senior administrator Emily Colucci said by phone on Thursday.
“It’s difficult to find a contractor who wants to come or has the expertise and the materials to come and work on an electrified fence here. That was one of our biggest holdups, just getting actual quotes, finding someone who could do the work, and then getting the materials here.”
Colucci said a contractor is now in place and materials began arriving this week to replace the damaged section of fence.
“We’re just working with them to get a start date,” she said. “Cross our fingers that everything goes well, the fence should be operational again within the next couple of weeks.”
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
The territorial government did not specify the number of bears killed at the dump in recent months.
The officer, Joshua Gauthier, asserted in his Monday letter to the town that the electrified fence had not worked for “more than two years.” Colucci said the fence had been working for some of that period but acknowledged there had been intermittent issues for that length of time.
“Energized fencing at this facility must be a priority for the town as it protects wildlife, but also provides safety of facility users and town staff,” Gauthier concluded.
“Public safety is a big concern of ours. We’re trying to do our best to ensure there’s public safety and we’re working with ECC on these matters,” said Colucci in response.
“We do appreciate the help that their officers have given us in coming out and keeping our sites safer for the public, for our staff.
“I know it’s not an ideal situation. The last thing any of us want to see is having bears be dispatched unnecessarily. I just appreciate the work that people are putting in, in the situation that we’re currently dealing with.”
The term “dispatched” is used by officials to mean killing an animal considered to pose some form of threat.
Colucci said once the fence is back up and running, the town has longer-term plans to redesign its solid waste facility and change the way the facility works.
“Within the next couple of years, we’ll be completely replacing the fencing. We’re on the horizon of a totally new site, designed more like a transfer site than an open landfill the way we currently have – getting a little bit more with the times,” she said.
Colucci said the rough timeline is for that work to start in 2026.
