Brief by Allen Best
Wildlife – August 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine
If Vail’s new wildlife law isn’t a threat to human life, it’s at least a threat to limbs. So says one of the town’s councilmen, Farrow Hitt.
Earlier this year, Hitt voted for the law that mandates bear-proof Dumpsters and other trash containers. But in his duties as the manager of a condominium complex, he sees significant problems.
Hitt says that the heavy lids on the Dumpsters provided by Waste Management are too heavy. “If someone was lifting that lid up and it fell back down on their hand, it would take their hand off,” he told the Vail Daily.
For several years, Vail town officials had laws on the books that mandated no garbage could be left out until the day of pickup. Failing that, bear-resistant containers were required.
But resistant containers only delayed the efforts of bears, and hence the requirement for greater fortification. Hitt tells the newspaper that he believes the trash-removal company can do better. “We put a man on the moon,” he said. “We can get a Dumpster lid that doesn’t chop people’s hands off.
But the local manager for the trash company, Jerry Valasquez, said lids any lighter would not be effective. It is not dangerous if used properly, he insisted.
