Fruit Tree Replacement Program

The Town of Banff offers an incentive program to remove fruit trees in Banff and replace them with native, non-fruit bearing trees at no cost to homeowners or businesses.

This project aims to reduce the number of wildlife attractants in town while maintaining and protecting our urban forest.

Program History and Background

Fruit in crab apple, cherry, and mountain ash trees are non-native food sources in Banff but are nonetheless extremely attractive to black bears and grizzly bears. Bears that become habituated to unnatural urban food sources must be relocated, or potentially destroyed to prevent them from becoming a danger to residents and visitors. Notable incidents in recent years include:

2014 - Black bear euthanized after becoming habituated to chokecherry trees in Banff.

2017 - After 3 years of grazing on fruit trees in Banff/Canmore, officials relocated a female grizzly bear to B.C., where it was eventually killed by a hunter.

2022 - Five black bears (two females, three cubs) euthanized by officials in Canmore/Banff after becoming habituated to crab apple trees and other attractants.

2023 – Black bear euthanized in Canmore after becoming habituated to fruit trees in Cougar Creek.

2023 – Grizzly bear 122 (‘The Boss’) accessed crab apple trees at multiple properties along Marmot Cr. Bear was successfully hazed out of the town site by Parks Canada.

In the Town of Banff, it is illegal for property owners to allow wildlife attractants to accumulate on their property. This includes fruit in trees or that has fallen on the ground. Fruit tree owners must proactively pick fruit from their trees and the surrounding area, or else remove their tree entirely to prevent attractants from accumulating.

The Town of Banff will remove fruit-bearing trees on private property where there is clear evidence that the tree is being grazed on by bears or other potentially dangerous wildlife, as authorized under Community Standards Bylaw 260.

Fruit Tree Replacement Incentive Program

The Town of Banff offers an ongoing incentive program to remove fruit-bearing trees in Banff and replace them with deciduous, non-fruit bearing trees. All fruit-bearing varieties of the following trees are eligible for removal under the program:

Apple/plum trees
Cherry/chokecherry trees
Mountain ash trees

Other tree species may be eligible on a case-by-case basis, at the discretion of the Town. Shrub species are not eligible.

The Town covers 100% of the following costs, and will coordinate contractor hiring and logistics for:

Tree cutting and removal by chainsaw.
Stump grinding, only where the site is accessible by machine.
Purchase and planting of an eligible replacement tree in a suitable site.

The following, if applicable, are the sole responsibility of the owner:

Landscaping repairs/modifications.
Fence removals/modifications.
Irrigation changes.
Whole stump pulling or stump removal by hand.
Any other costs not specifically listed as covered by the Town.

All residential and commercial properties are eligible.

Please e-mail rebates@banff.ca to inquire.

Since 2015, residents and businesses have removed 47 fruit trees (mostly crab apple trees) under the program – but hundreds more remain. Please do your part to protect Banff’s bears by having your fruit trees removed!