Should the Haines Borough adopt a bear ordinance? Let’s review some history.

Bears in town have always been an issue, but their traffic became heavy in 1992 and 1993, when eight were shot and killed near residences. In June 1993 alone, four bears were killed, including a small brown bear shot by an off-duty police officer who’d left opened cans of soda in his Small Tracts backyard. The State of Alaska found the shooting unjustified and started to prosecute the officer.

Two months later, the state dropped its prosecution in exchange for agreement by City of Haines Police to develop a written, department policy on responding to bear calls and to draft an ordinance requiring residents to bear-proof their garbage.

Police largely stopped shooting bears, but the city backed out of adopting a garbage ordinance, citing language in the agreement that the ordinance only be "drafted." Bear problems in town continued.

On Monday, the Haines Borough held a "bear summit" aimed at educating residents on how to avoid attracting bears to their homes. The meeting was not unlike a meeting sponsored by the Department of Fish and Game here on May 17, 1993, weeks before the four bears were killed.

Meetings have their place, but it is law – enforced with penalties – that holds power to change behavior.

In 1993, police chief Charlie Fannon said Haines wasn’t ready for an ordinance like Juneau’s, where residents are fined if they negligently attract bears. But Fannon never came up with a better alternative. Neither did the City of Haines or Haines Borough.

After decades of paying police to chase bears around town and waffling about what to do, it’s time for our leaders to put this nuisance behind us. Juneau’s ordinance works. Bring it on. Give it teeth. Enforce it.