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Backyard hen debate moves ahead for Fernie
By Erin Knutson
The chicken debate continues for Fernie as the majority of city council voted to move animal and municipal bylaws forward to permit additional zoning for raising backyard hens within the city at their mid-November meeting.
Bylaw Officer Tom Kramer attended, addressing an initiative brought to the council in 2021 from Wildsight on creating food security with urban agriculture. Community safety was at the forefront of Kramer’s presentation.
“There were 59 responses to bears and garbage. It has been a busy year. We educate the public on waste management; garbage and hens attract wildlife. Community bears are habituated to recycling bins and composting – we try to reduce wildlife attractants as much as possible and manage cost-effectively,” he said.
Concern over providing enhanced motivation for bears by permitting the hens and Fernie’s overall sanitary and health safety was touted by Mayor Nic Milligan despite strict regulations meted out for housing hens from the BC Ministry of Agriculture and in partnership with Interior Health.
“I’m not opposed to urban agriculture, but bears are a primary predator and wildlife of concern – I want to provide context that in recent months, we are seeing many bear interactions,” said Milligan.
Kramer’s response to Milligan’s worries was the confirmation that none of his calls had been about the backyard hens the city already allowed in West Fernie.
As well as an incomplete assessment of contributing factors and input from residents on best practices to properly contain garbage, which is a severe issue at this time, Milligan suggested the problem of negligent garbage disposal be adequately addressed before heading into an unknown situation with the arrival of new hens.
Food sustainability options for citizens were high on the list of priorities for councillors Troy Nixon, Kevin McIsaac, Kyle Hamilton and Ted Shoesmith, who was in favour of supporting responsible applicants to cultivate chickens on their property.
Though an imperfect system, correctly implementing and enforcing new backyard chicken bylaws would protect the city and be an asset to its inhabitants, according to Kramer’s report.
“With strict regulations controlling the permitted zones, the specifications of coops and hen structures, electrical fencing, a permitting and registration process, the City of Fernie and its citizens would benefit from permitting backyard hens,” he said.
e-KNOW file photo
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