This year’s apple collection program, put on by Northern Lights Estate Winery and the Northern Bear Awareness Society, brought in 16,000 pounds of apples. The wine is sold at nearly 200 locations across BC.
Prince George benefits by getting rid of bear attractants. Northern Bear Awareness Society President Dave Bakker explains why this is important for the city.
“Prince George over the years has ranked in the top five of the province for the number of complaints and it’s basically because of attractant management.”
Over 50,000 pounds of apples has been turned into wine over the four years through the program. While this may seem high, Bakker says that number is actually just scratching the surface in terms of attractants.
Bakker says it is difficult to gauge how much the apple collection program has helped over the four years.
“The hardest part about trying to keep track of that is that this is the time of the year when the complaint levels and the sighting levels increase dramatically, almost three to four times as the rest of the year, so tracking that is probably really difficult.”
The Northern Bear Awareness society also received $4,000 as part of the program. It will go into the biggest expense for the society, insurance, as well as replenishing educational material.
The program is over for the year but will continue in the future.
Northern Lights Estate Winery Owner/Operator Doug Bell says locations in other northern BC communities, including Quesnel, Prince Rupert, and Terrace, have inquired about expanding the program.
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