The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Bins must be wildlife resistant or stored indoors
By Kendra Walker
With summer approaching, the Mt. Crested Butte town council recently discussed their concerns about non-wildlife resistant trash containers being left outdoors and attracting bears and other wildlife. During a work session on May 5, the council brainstormed communication strategies and ways to encourage more compliance with leaving trash bins outside.
One concern is that there will be more bear activity in the town this summer than in previous summers. The county’s STOR (Sustainable Tourism and Outdoor Recreation) committee recently spent time talking about the drought conditions and one ramification is that backcountry food supply could dry up fast without new moisture. This would result in bears likely coming into nearby towns in search of sustenance.
According to Mt. CB’s ordinance related to trash containers, “All waste containers, which receive edible waste shall be wildlife resistant. The container must be fully enclosed and the lid or door must have a latching mechanism that prevents access by wildlife. If the container is not wildlife resistant, it must be stored within a building, house, garage, or approved wildlife resistant dumpster. Residential waste containers shall be placed curbside no earlier than 5:30 a.m. on the day of pick up. After pick up, any non-wildlife resistant container must be secured inside the building, house, garage, or approved wildlife resistant dumpster enclosure by 8:00 p.m. of the day of pick up.”
According to mayor pro tem Steve Morris, the town experienced major bear issues around 2016 to 2018, but has seen a noticeable reduction in encounters since it ramped up its enforcement and messaging. “The council worked really hard to establish some guidelines and a little bit more enforcement,” he said.
“We had lots of bear problems, especially in high density areas, as well as the dumpsters around town. Those bears have either been relocated or killed off,” said Mt. CB police chief Nate Stepanek.
Stepanek continued, “It’s not only bears, but you’ll see magpies get in the trash if the cans are partially open and they pull bags of trash out. It’s mainly trash that they get into in my experience, not recycling,” he said.
Stepanek said the major problems in recent years have mostly been related to days when the trash company has a delay from its usual pickup, such as a holiday or weather delays, when someone might leave their cans out overnight. “But in general, we pretty much have compliance, especially with the dumpsters.”
Council members have noticed recent instances when non-wildlife resistant trash containers are still being left outside to tempt wildlife and agreed to utilizing more community messaging to remind people ahead of the summer season.
“A lot of this has just been noticing, seeing things out and such, and kind of getting concerned that it can blow up pretty quickly,” said Morris.
Communications manager Marisa Maudsley noted that she shares social media posts about bears each spring and fall. She said she could also add updates regarding wildlife and waste containers to the town’s TextMyGov texting system, which goes out to residents and anybody who signs up for town text updates.
The town also sends reminders about bears and trash cans to short-term rental owners. Town clerk Tiffany O’Connell said the town does occasionally receive complaints about trash being left out. “For short-term rentals in 2024, we had seven trash complaints. In 2025, it was nine. Most of those complaints are in Pitchfork,” she said, noting one short-term rental owner’s license was suspended because they had repeated issues with trash being left out.
“The Pitchfork situation where we suspended the license, the trash bin was left out and then I went on to check on it the next morning. We discovered the bear had gotten into the trash and trash was spewed about,” said short-term rental officer Heidi Sheldon.
The council and staff brainstormed how to incentivize people who don’t have wildlife-resistant trash bins.
“With Waste Management, you get a regular trash can. If you want a wildlife resistant one, you have to go purchase it yourself, we don’t supply those,” said O’Connell.
“Would anybody have an appetite for subsidizing wildlife cans for, what I assume is the minority of people?” asked Morris.
“I would say the majority have garages to store them in,” said O’Connell.
“Is there a way with the short-term rentals, to require them to have a bear-resistant container?” asked Stepanek. “If they have one, it wouldn’t matter if they left it out.”
O’Connell said that was an option, in which the council could put that requirement into the code and then short-term rental owners would sign a self-compliance affidavit.
Town manager Carlos Velado said the town could also look into renegotiating its agreement with Waste Management so that Waste Management provides the wildlife-resistant containers. Currently, there are no options for wildlife-resistant recycling containers, and O’Connell said she would inquire with Waste Management regarding recycling bin options.
For more information regarding Waste Management trash and recycling in the town of Mt. Crested Butte, visit https://mtcb.colorado.gov/recycling-trash.
