Holiday Closure
All City of Boulder administrative facilities, public libraries and Age Well Centers will be closed Monday, May 29, for the Memorial Day holiday. Some facilities and services will be open.
Wildlife in the Boulder city limits and along the urban interface sometimes conflict with human activities. This situation creates the need for a comprehensive, long-term plan to guide management of wildlife in Boulder's urban areas. The Boulder community, City Council, Environmental Advisory Board, and Parks and Recreation Advisory Board worked together to develop a Urban Wildlife Management Plan (UWMP) to help address concerns about prairie dogs, bears, mountain lions and other wildlife issues.
The purpose of the UWMP is to establish a set of policies and guidelines for managing wildlife within Boulder. The intent of the plan is to integrate urban wildlife management in the Boulder Valley with the existing and emerging plans and policies of the Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) Department.
The UWMP establishes a framework for making urban wildlife management decisions, provides direction on regulatory and program changes, and outlines a set of actions for long-term management of human-wildlife conflicts.
Bears have always been a part of life in Boulder. The city’s urban wildlife conservation project aims to ensure bears and humans can safely co-exist. Through education, awareness and laws, the city is working to limit the food available to bears so they are not drawn to urban areas.
The city's 2017 Bear Protection Ordinance 8161 aims to protect bears by eliminating access to food rewards found in trash and compost bins. The ordinance requires:
West of Broadway and south of Sumac Avenue: All compost and trash carts, containers, dumpsters or enclosures must be bear-resistant or stored in a building, house, garage, shed or other enclosure until emptied by a trash hauler.
View the below map of the area where bear-resistant containers are mandatory at all times.
Code enforcement officers will issue fines for noncompliance, including not latching containers, and violators will not receive warnings. Officers may issue tickets in-person or give citations to property owners via email or printed notification. The fines are:
Please note yard waste such as leaves and branches are not considered bear attractants and can be put out for collection in leaf-litter bags or bundled with string. If compost containers only contain yard waste, they must still be latched. Also, bear-resistant carts and recycling containers can be put out for collection after 8pm the night before pick-up anywhere in the city.
To help protect bears, community members are encouraged to reduce potential bear attractants. This includes:
*Electric fencing requires a permit in the City of Boulder.
Bear-resistant carts are similar to most trash and compost carts currently used in Boulder, but are reinforced with special latches. Carts that meet the bear-resistant criteria have been tested and rated by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee.
The city requires bear-resistant containers to be in working condition, however they can break. If a cart is broken it must be fixed. For Western Disposal customers, call 303-444-2037 and request a replacement cart. Carts are generally replaced within 24 hours. If you are a One-Way Trash or Republic customer and you have purchased your cart, you are responsible for the repairs or replacement.
Would you like a bear-resistant container even though you do not live in the area where it is required?
How can I make a bear-resistant waste enclosure?
If prairie dogs are causing nuisance problems for you or the uses of your property, do not attempt to poison or kill the animals.
If you have development plans for your property that may be in conflict with prairie dogs on the site, or if you have any questions about prairie dog lethal control permits, contact Val Matheson at mathesonv@bouldercolorado.gov or 303-441-3004.
City ordinance requires landowners to obtain a permit from the city before using any form of lethal control on prairie dogs. In order to obtain a permit, the landowner must demonstrate the following:
In addition, one of the following conditions must exist
The waiting period after the submission of an application is a minimum of three to five months. If the city determines that relocation alternatives exist during or after the initial three-to-five month period, it may delay issuing the permit for an additional 12 months in order to allow relocation to occur.
The basic administrative fee for a lethal control permit is $1,500. An applicant for a prairie dog lethal control permit must also pay a fee of $1,200 per acre of active prairie dogs habitat lost, pro-rated for any partial acres of lost habitat.