By JAMES ROBINSONChair, Land of Enchantment Wildlife Foundation
Member, Environmental Sustainability Board
I wanted to thank Cheryl Bell for the wonderful letter about bears (link). One point I really want to drive home is thanking Los Alamos for making great strides in becoming a bear friendly community.
Earlier this year, the Pajarito Environmental Education Center and Land of Enchantment Wildlife Foundation teamed up to host New Mexico’s first Bear Festival. This event was wonderful and bought local, state and national agencies together to help Los Alamos learn how they can be bear friendly. I have seen many of those lessons being put into practice every day in Los Alamos, and that makes me feel proud that our town could be the first to enjoy such an event.
In addition, Los Alamos County Environmental Services and the Environmental Sustainability Board (ESB) have been working hard to provide additional solutions to deter bears from our waste. Environmental Services has gone above and beyond in helping the community install the current deterrent device on our roll carts, and are working to bring more developed carts to the county.
Additionally, they have acted quickly to install new bear resistant dumpster in several areas that are known to have bear encounters. Finally, working together with the ESB, there is a current draft of an ordinance change to hope limit the time our waste is left in our roll carts. Everyone at Environmental Services should be commended for all their hard work!
Finally, I want to recognize Los Alamos’s generosity. Last year, Los Alamos provided Dr. Kathleen Ramsay of Cottonwood Rehab everything she needed to rehabilitate and release the two cubs orphaned in the unfortunate incident in the Valles Caldera. Your assistance also allowed Dr. Ramsay to care for four additional cubs from southern New Mexico. With your generosity, all the bears were able to have successful releases. This assistance went above monetary donations. Working with Environmental Services, Land of Enchantment Wildlife Foundation was able to collect extra fruit from Los Alamos, and provide to the bears.
However, 2016 was not an exception. This year, Dr. Ramsay again came to this community to ask for assistance for her current patient, Blue Beary. Again the community responded with thousands in donations, and they keep on coming. As the summer has come to an end, Dr. Ramsay has added an additional four cubs to her care, and will always be grateful for any assistance that the community can provide.
I want to again thank Los Alamos for everything it has accomplished in becoming a bear friendly community! Your actions indeed speak louder than any words, and you are shining example to many other communities looking to find ways to live with their fat and furry neighbors.