WildSafeBC Nelson community co-ordinator Lisa Thomson has resigned after five seasons, following a month marked by the deaths of two grizzly bears and what she describes as a wave of misinformation and personal attacks online.
Thomson’s final day is Friday. She said the loss of the bears, combined with the online response to the situation, became the breaking point after years of dealing with the same wildlife conflicts.
“The last kind of couple of weeks has been quite challenging because it’s become very vindictive and personal,” she said of the online discourse. “A lot of it’s through simply misinformation.”
The sow, which Thomson had named Miss Grizz, and her offspring had become familiar to many Nelson residents before the family became the focus of a series of conservation officer interventions this month.
The sow was dispatched Aug. 14, while two of her yearlings were captured and relocated. A third yearling was euthanized two days earlier because of an injured leg and its conflict history, according to the B.C. Conservation Officer Service.
For Thomson, the situation was particularly difficult because she had developed a personal relationship with the grizzly sow over the years.
“I’m incredibly sad about losing our keystone species here and having somewhat of a personal relationship with the grizzly sow,” she said, recalling her involvement in the sow’s 2023 relocation from the community.
She said the events surrounding the bears exposed what she believed were failures that went beyond the decisions made by wildlife officials.
“We’ve failed them as a community,” Thomson said.
That includes the way residents manage attractants, though Thomson said people also need to think more broadly about their impact on wildlife as Nelson continues to grow and more people use the surrounding backcountry.
She believed the community also allowed the grizzly family to become too comfortable in residential areas.
“I think we were killing them with kindness by allowing them to remain and not make them unwelcome and instilling those boundaries,” she said.
While many residents enjoyed watching the bears, Thomson said seeing grizzlies regularly in backyards should not be seen as a sign of successful coexistence.
“We really are still learning what coexistence looks like. But I can tell you it doesn’t look like having grizzly bears in your backyard. Grizzly bears in Nelson shouldn’t be happening.”
Thomson also pushed back against online claims that WildSafeBC was responsible for decisions involving the bears.
She said the program focuses on education and prevention, while conservation officers are responsible for enforcement and wildlife response decisions.
“They’re enforcement. We are education,” Thomson said.
She said WildSafeBC works with residents, schools, businesses and municipalities, often canvassing neighbourhoods where wildlife conflicts are occurring to identify attractants and help people find ways to secure them.
But as anger grew following the bear deaths, Thomson said attempts to correct misinformation led to more personal attacks.
“People just sitting at home going, ‘Oh yeah, this happened,’ and not having any awareness or reaching out to anyone who’s involved,” she said. “The fabrication of events and stories has been mind-blowing.”
Thomson said she had dealt with online trolling throughout her five years as the local co-ordinator, but the past few weeks were different.
She said the volume of misinformation and personal attacks became too much to sustain.
“It’s just the assumptions that get made,” she said.
Her experience reflects concerns raised by Nelson Councillor Rik Logtenberg, who recently warned that increasingly toxic online discourse can discourage people from taking on public roles.
For Thomson, the backlash surrounding the grizzly situation became “the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
“It is disappointing to be leaving like this,” she said. “But I’m looking forward to focusing on new things and still being an active member in the community and still love all my bears.”
Despite that, she said she wants to focus on the conservation successes of her five seasons, including replacing open-top garbage bins with bear-resistant containers, efforts to remove unmanaged fruit trees from public property and expanding bear-proof bins at high-traffic recreation areas.
“I’m kind of looking forward to just sitting back, reflecting and trying to remember some of the wins because it’s been quite difficult with the abundance of negativity.”
Wildlife awareness remains critical
Thomson said the events of the past few weeks should not distract from the need for residents to remain wildlife aware, particularly as fall approaches.
She said bears will soon enter hyperphagia, a period when they dramatically increase their food intake before winter, while ripening fruit can create additional attractants.
Carrying bear spray and being aware of your surroundings on trails remain important, particularly near dense berry bushes or areas with limited visibility, said Thomson.
She also urged residents to secure garbage, manage fruit trees and remove bird feeders during bear season.
Despite the way her time with WildSafeBC is ending, Thomson said she remains grateful for the people who supported her over the last five years.
“Remember to be a good steward to this land and thank you for everyone who’s contributed to my successes and WildSafe successes over the years. I really appreciate it.”
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