Western Colorado Springs residents leaving feasts for bears in their garbage cans will soon face fines.

A new city ordinance that takes effect March 1 requires most residents and businesses west of Interstate 25 to store trash in a bear-resistant container or keep trash in a garage or enclosed structure most of the time. Residents who choose to store their trash inside are only allowed to set their cans out between 5 a.m. and 7 p.m. for collection days, according to the new rules.

“This is hopefully going to decrease the majority of the bear-human conflict,” Cassidy English, district wildlife manager for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, said.

In the Colorado Springs area last year, Colorado Parks and Wildlife received 678 calls about bears and 230 of them were related to trash, English said. The calls were dispersed throughout the neighborhoods west of Interstate 25, with no particular hot spots, she said.

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English said given the success of a similar ordinance in Manitou Springs that is headed into its third summer, she expects the new ordinance will help keep bears away from homes. In the second year of the Manitou Springs ordinance the rules led to a pronounced decrease in bears raiding trash containers, she said.

A more stringent approach in Durango also saw success. State parks and wildlife officials gave out hundreds of bear-resistant trash containers out to residents in selected neighborhoods and saw a 60% drop in bear-trash conflict, a study between 2011 and 2016 by the agency showed.

Colorado Springs Neighborhood Services Manager Mitch Hammes said code enforcement officers planned to enforce the new ordinance based on complaints from residents. He said he expected the agency to focus on educating first-time and infrequent offenders of the ordinance.

Residents who don’t comply with the ordinance can face a $100 fine for the first offence, a $250 fine for the second violation and a $500 fine for the third and subsequent violations.

Locking up trash helps keep bears healthier and ensures they don’t become comfortable with people and become danger to the public, according to Parks and Wildlife. Bears venturing into towns for trash are far more likely to die for an array of reasons such as car accidents or euthanasia, officials said.

“We live such close proximity, we need to do what’s right for the bears,” Hammes said.

Residents who need to get a bear-resistant trash containers should contact their waste hauler, he said.

Residents concerned about bears in neighborhoods should can help make sure they don’t feel comfortable near humans by “hazing” them, English said. That includes yelling at the animals or rattling cans full of rocks to send them away, she said.