Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the number of applicants for the grant funding, and to clarify the status and compensation for the volunteer harvest leaders.
Boulder County is reaping $145,500 from a state grant through Colorado Parks and Wildlife aimed at finding solutions to help prevent human-to-bear conflict.
A bill signed earlier this month by Gov. Jared Polis, HB 21-1326, provides Colorado Department of Natural Resources and Colorado Parks and Wildlife $1 million for native species conservation, to be distributed to local communities with the goal of reducing human-bear conflicts, according to a CPW news release.
Of that money, $100,500 will go to Boulder County and its partners, the towns of Jamestown and Lyons, earmarked for the Boulder County Human Bear Conflict Reduction Program. That money is intended to provide tangible deterrent material to residents that might otherwise be out of reach financially.
Boulder County Parks & Open Space will act as the fiscal agent and grant administrator, in partnership with those two towns, to purchase proven bear-deterrent solutions with the focus on addressing bears that have habituated into the community.
Additionally, $45,000 will go to the Boulder-based Community Fruit Rescue, a nonprofit organization based in Boulder. The grant aims to expand Community Fruit Rescue’s capacity and to increase the number of fruit harvests by 25%, by developing a “Bear Conflict” branch that will quickly harvest fruit in areas of Boulder where bears are active.
“We are making sure that more people have the tools and resources needed to keep people and property safe, and save money, while protecting Colorado’s iconic black bear population,” Polis stated in the CPW release.
Eleven out of 29 applicants were granted funding from CPW’s new Human-Bear Conflict Reduction Grant Program. The funding for Boulder County will facilitate providing heavily subsidized bear-resistant trash containers and electric fencing kits for purchase, with the hope that residents will participate more readily if the product is affordable.
The Community Fruit Rescue organization plans to use its money to create a Wildlife Co-existence program to prevent human-to-bear conflict and unnecessary food waste. Also, the goal is to bring in more volunteers to participate in the statewide effort to preserve Colorado’s natural habitat, keep its citizens safe and allow Coloradans and wildlife to peacefully coexist, Wildlife Co-existence Program Director Melanie Hill stated in an email.
This program will have a “bear conflict” branch made up of staff members and volunteers to organize and plan local events in the Boulder area to harvest fruit where there are active bear sightings, according to Hill.
Harvest leaders will plan, organize and lead harvesting events. They will be expected to lead at least one event per week for the remainder of the 12-week season. In addition, harvest leaders are required to lead an event from the beginning to the end, which will typically last three-to-four hours. Each harvest leader, all of them volunteers, will be granted a $30 stipend for each harvest they lead, to help with gas and other expenses.
Volunteer fruit pickers can participate in any harvest event they chose. Typically, there will be at least one harvest event per day. Harvests are staged at residential homes and typically last two hours, Hill said.
Hill said the group’s funding will also be used to create do-it-yourself harvest kits, allowing residents to harvest their own fruits, which should help prevent unnecessary human-to-bear conflicts, ultimately decreasing bear fatalities and keeping the community safer.
The grant will also be used to “update our outreach materials and create a more comprehensive messaging kit that shares information about living with black bears and other wildlife” Hill stated in the email.
The food collected during these harvests will be donated to local food pantries, schools, soup kitchens, homeless shelters and directly to the volunteers. Fruit found unfit for human consumption will be donated to a wild animal sanctuary, Hill stated.
“Other benefits that come along with our fruit harvests is reducing waste, minimizing greenhouse gases, building resilient communities, and providing fresh, healthy food to people in need,” according to Hill.
The Community Fruit Rescue program will be launching a new website this month. Those interested in joining the board or who want to register their fruit trees to be harvested this upcoming season should visit fruitrescue.org.
And, for more information about the Wildlife Co-existence program, contact Hill at melanie@fruitrescue.org.
“Community Fruit Rescue is a very small but mighty organization, so the impact of this CPW grant will be huge” Hill wrote in the email.
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