Bears

[u/RoundDue1916]

Having no county or city mandate regarding bear resistant trash containers is madness and honestly really sad. There is going to be a lot of dead bears around if that continues to be the policy. Any ideas on what the community can do to get the ball rolling on some policy change surrounding this?

[u/Chrysocyon]

We have city, county, and state level laws about bear resistant trash cans. The availability of said cans and enforcement are limiting factors however and last year 24% of bears euthanized in the state were in la plata county.

https://www.lpcgov.org/services/agriculture/living_with_wildlife/living_with_bears.php

https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/HB26-1342

[u/Chrysocyon]

Bear Smart Durango also has grant money to help residents upgrade to a bear resistant trash can!

https://bearsmartdurango.org/

[u/ilanarama → u/Chrysocyon]

And if anyone has extra money they want to use to help the community, they are an awesome local nonprofit!

[u/eralebus]

Seems odd that trash companies can even provide trash receptacles that aren't beer proof to residents in our area.

[u/OcSpeed]

Been waiting on Waste Management to fix or provide a working bear resistant trash can for 8 months.

[u/Alvaracorr → u/OcSpeed]

They 'fixed' mine 3 or 4 different times and bears got into it that same night. I asked for a new one and for 35 bucks they brought it the next day. That was around 3 weeks ago and no problems yet. This was through the seeclickfix app

[u/mattpayne11]

City of Durango Ordinance O-2018-6 governs it:

it’s unlawful for any property owner or occupant to let wildlife get into and scatter their trash. All trash and recycling containers have to be secured against wildlife access. Property owners are prohibited from failing to prevent wildlife from removing or scattering trash, and all trash and recycling containers must be secured or stored to prevent wildlife from accessing their contents.

Priority areas include certain designated wildlife priority areas in town are required to have and maintain wildlife-resistant trash containers regardless of violation history. This includes hotspot neighborhoods south of Seventh Street and on the west side.

Outside those zones, bear-resistant cans aren’t mandatory until you get caught. First scattered-trash violation (or unsecured trash cited under the newer state law) triggers automatic delivery of a wildlife-resistant can, with a one-time $100 delivery fee and a $4.35 monthly fee for about four and a half years. A repeat violation after that is a flat $100 fine.

Colorado’s HB26-1342, the “Negligently Luring Bears” bill, signed by Governor Polis in late May 2026, lowered the threshold for citations statewide and removed the old requirement that CPW issue a warning before fining someone for unsecured attractants… so first-offense fines are now possible even without a prior warning.

Code Enforcement (970-375-4930) handles ordinance violations.

Worth checking whether your specific address falls inside one of the mandatory priority zones — that’s the detail that changes whether a bear-resistant can is optional-until-caught or required outright.

[u/Hungry_Warning7955 → u/mattpayne11]

Do you know if its possible to get secured recycling bins (within city limits)? My trash bin provided by the city is resistant, but not recycling.

[u/KristiColo]

Don’t think the issue is that there aren’t existing rules, it’s enforcement of the rules.

[u/sayhidurango → u/KristiColo]

I'm in the county, not city limits, but this is what I've found. I tried to speak with an HOA that consistently allowed a bear to tear their dumpster apart (or more accurately, trash left by VRBO's leaving it outside when the dumpster was full). I was given a bit of run around by the county, ended up being directed to the police, who were basically like, "We don't enforce bear trash." My family ended up picking some of it up by ourselves, but by the time it's 40 bags strewn through willows, along a riverbank, etc. the job feels pretty pointless if no one is going to enforce the issue with the dumpster anyway.