The North Shore Black Bear Society, a non-profit organization, works in partnership with local and regional governments and other groups involved with black bears and bear attractant issues. Our education program is delivered by dedicated volunteers across the North Shore of Vancouver in the following ways:

§         Providing information booths at public events

§         Making presentations to groups, including elementary schools, Guides and  Scouts, summer camps and adult organizations

§         Canvassing neighbourhoods where there has been bear activity

§         Communicating with residents who have contacted us by phone or email about bear sightings and bear attractant management challenges

§         Hanging signs where bear sightings have been reported

§         Maintaining a data base on bear activity and bear attractants

The North Shore Black Bear Society has one paid permanent, part-time position. This position of Executive Director and Education Coordinator is held by Christine Miller. If you wish to volunteer, make a bear or attractant report, ask questions or request a display or presentation, please contact Christine at 604.317.4911.

The North Shore Black Bear Network was formed in 1999 after 39 bears were killed, and its goal was to reduce the number of black bears destroyed on the North Shore. The Network was successful in its efforts to raise awareness of bear attractant management and increase understanding of bear behaviour, and it was able to get the residents working together to reduce bear habituation (loss of fear of humans) and food conditioning (reliance on unnatural food sources).

• seven municipalities (North Vancouver District, North Vancouver City, West Vancouver, Port Moody, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Lions Bay)
• North Shore Black Bear Society
• Grouse Mountain
• BCCF Bear Aware
• AdventureSmart
• Squamish Nation
• Conservation Officer Service
• North Vancouver RCMP
• West Vancouver Police

In 2005, the Network volunteers from the North Shore formed the North Shore Black Bear Society to provide a unified voice for the local volunteers and to allow liability insurance to be purchased for those who are involved in educating and advising residents. The Society’s Board of Directors continues to meet monthly, and to provide direction to the Society and its Executive Director.

Since 2005, the North Shore has benefited from the efforts of British Columbia Conservation Foundation (BCCF) Bear Aware Program Delivery Specialists. These specialists - Susan Pinkus and Andrew Appleton (2005), Robyn Kenyon (2006), Roberto Cobo (2007) and Christine Miller (2008 and 2009) - have assisted with bear and attractant management education in cooperation with others, including the Network, Society, municipal staff and the Conservation Officer Service. The Bear Aware program has enabled the education programs on the North Shore to expand and reach a larger audience each season. For more information, go to www.bearaware.bc.ca

The North Shore Working Group (the Working Group) is comprised of representatives of:

• the three North Shore municipalities (District of North Vancouver, City of North Vancouver, District of West Vancouver)
• North Shore Black Bear Network
• North Shore Black Bear Society
• BCCF Bear Aware program
• Metro Vancouver
• Conservation Officer Service

In February 2009, the Working Group organized and hosted a comprehensive strategic planning session to develop priorities for groups involved with preventing and reducing human-bear conflict on Vancouver's North Shore.

• Get Bear Smart Society, Whistler
• Bear Matters BC

A. Education

Before summer vacation, we made presentations to:

During and after summer vacation:

Presentation dates have been scheduled for later in November: Gleneagles (grade 1 class) West Vancouver and Ridgeview Elementary (all grades – 408 students). 1 of 5

This is a summary of the numerical feedback. Letters A-G correspond to letters in preceding Chart "Presentations – Children."

From the written comments we see that the knowledge and enthusiasm of the presenter, the interactive nature of the PowerPoint, the pelt and artifacts, the photos and community stories are appreciated. We also learned that for large groups in a school gymnasium, a remote sound system will be an asset.

Feedback was obtained from four adult presentations.

(1: strongly disagree; 5: strongly agree)

Letters (I – K and Q) correspond to letters in preceding Chart "Presentations – Adults and Families."

From the written feedback, we learned that the strengths of the presentations were seen as the presenter’s enthusiasm and knowledge, photographs, community stories and the pelt and artifacts. Christine also learned that she needs to include more discussions with ESL groups throughout the presentations to better assess their level of understanding. 

The number of people contacted is approximate. At big events, it is very hard to keep an accurate track, especially with a group of volunteers working at the same time. I suggest that for next year, it will be a good idea to buy tally counters for volunteers to use at public events.

Other ways we provided education throughout 2008:

o Sold plush black bears at Lynn Valley Centre, December 2007

o Maintained coin boxes at various retail outlets in North Vancouver

Our volunteers are key to the delivery of our programs. We try to keep our active volunteers informed and involved. In addition, we:

o Invited all interested volunteers to participate in presentations, public events, canvassing and bear sales (December).

o Hosted an information evening for all volunteers.