A program to fence rural dumpster sites to keep out scavenging bears is also preventing people from misusing the sites.

Officials say apparently fewer people have been illegally scavenging and dumping at these sites.

“The sites are generally cleaner since the fences have been put up,” said Kathi Hooper of the Lincoln County Health Department.

The county has historically responded to human misuse of dumpsters by having the sites monitored daily, and, if necessary, deploying security cameras.

“Usually our collector’s report to us if there’s a mess at a site,” Hooper said. “If someone is dumping, we can almost always find out who it is by looking through the garbage for identification, and send a violation notice.”

Hooper noted that it becomes very expensive for the county to clean up trash or items that have been dumped by humans, although bears, she said, tend to strew the garbage farther than humans.

County landfill manager Brian Alkire said the dumpster site at Hecla mine is locked from 7 p.m to 7 a.m and the site at Fisher River, though open 24 hours a day to humans, has an electrified bear mat at the entrance to deter animals from the site. It is safe for humans to both walk and drive across the mat.

Alkire has not noticed a huge drop in human misuse of the sites, but said that even having one entry point to a site could be a psychological deterrent.

“I guess people can’t throw things in as easily now the fences are up, and they can’t sneak around the back of the dumpsters anymore,” he said.