Dear Editor:
I would like to challenge the statement made by Tracey Weldon "We live in bear country, end of story," in her July 13 letter, Learn to Change Behaviours if You Live in Bear Country.
I have lived continuously on the North Shore since 1921. In the years since then, the area of the three municipalities has not changed. However the number of people living in them has grown immensely, expanding to pretty well fill the land below the 1,200 foot level.
In the early days the local black bears stayed in the wilderness above us. Hollyburn, Grouse, Fromme and Seymour Mountains were their natural habitat, mountain blueberries were their natural diet. They did not live in our area, never have lived in our area and any bear found around habitation was quickly converted, thanks to a .3030 rifle, into roasts and a rug.
The habitable area of the North Shore is about 30 miles long and not more than three miles wide, less than 90 square miles at the most. Behind that lies a wilderness clear to Whistler and beyond, 30 miles wide and 75 miles deep, well over 2,000 square miles in area. This is bear country and this is where they should stay. They never were where we live. What we have now are bears taking advantage of easy living in a non-wilderness setting.
James R. Thomson West Vancouver
