Bear population booms, aim is to lessen encounters

By Nanci Bompey, Asheville Citizen-Times

Everyone seems to have a bear story this year.

A decade of abundant food combined with more safe havens means there are more black bears in Western North Carolina than there have been since the late 1800s. The N.C. Wildlife Commission estimates bear populations have grown to a record 10,000 in the mountains this year.

With a record number of humans also living in the mountains, more and more people are having interactions with bears. The Wildlife Commission had more than 260 complaints through September, and Asheville Animal Services workers said their phone has been ringing steadily with bear sightings.

"In the 1970s, there were some concerns about black bears in the Southern Appalachians, and those concerns are completely gone," said Frank van Manen, a research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and chairman of the Southern Appalachian Black Bear Study Group. "Now we are dealing with the aftermath of that success and how can we control the population to where the general public finds it acceptable."

To deal with the high number of bears and encounters between bears and humans, state wildlife officials are considering opening up some bear sanctuaries in the mountains to limited hunting. Some cities and towns, including Montreat and Asheville, have passed ordinances to help cut down on encounters between humans and bears, and other jurisdictions, including Buncombe County, are talking about ways to deal with bears.

But state and local officials say that educating people about living with bears will go furthest in reducing complaints. More than 95 percent of bear conflicts can be resolved through education, said Colleen Olfenbuttel, black bear biologist with the N.C. Wildlife Commission.

"Bears have adapted to living with people, and now it is people's turn to try to adapt to living in bear country," she said.

A growing population

Logging, the chestnut blight and poaching in the Southern Appalachians led to the decline of black bears in the region throughout the 20th century. In the 1960s, there were fewer than 1,000 bears in the state.

The bears were "sort of just hanging in there" when the state Wildlife Commission established 1.8 million acres of bear sanctuaries in the early 1970s to help grow the population, said Gordon Warburton, supervising wildlife biologist for the commission.

The sanctuaries, about 60-70 percent of which are in the mountains, increased the number of bears in the state, helped along by Great Smoky Mountains National Park and increased development. Like the national park, hunting is prohibited in most gated communities and developments, creating de facto bear sanctuaries. Watersheds in the area also provide safe habitat for bears.

The absence of severe mast failures in the past decade has helped bear numbers to increase. Bear populations in the Southern Appalachians have surpassed what some scientists thought would be their peak, moving into areas like North Carolina's Piedmont region, where they haven't been seen for decades.

"I started work with the Wildlife Commission in 1983, and there is no doubt that the bear population is the highest I've seen," Warburton said.

Van Manen said at some point the species will reach its biological carrying capacity, and the bear population will start to regulate itself through lower reproduction and other biological means.

But, he said, "The bottom line may be that that may not matter so much because my sense is that we may be at the cultural carrying capacity -what the general public finds acceptable in terms of bear problems and bear encounters."

Managing the bears, reducing conflicts

As complaints have increased, state and local officials are looking at ways to manage the bear population and cut down on conflicts.

Biologists said harvesting, or hunting, is one way to keep the bear population in check. As the bear population has grown and encounters with humans have increased, some states have extended their hunting seasons.

"We really look at harvesting as a tool to do wildlife management and population management, and if that tool were not available, I'm not sure, but we would have a lot of issues with bears in this region and not very good issues," van Manen said.

In WNC, the hunting season - Oct. 12-Nov. 21 and Dec. 14-Jan. 1 - is already long, so the Wildlife Commission is instead considering opening bear sanctuaries to limited hunting. In recent years, the commission has opened several sanctuaries and may consider opening up others to try and control the bear population in the mountains, said Olfenbuttel.

The consideration is part of a new bear management plan the commission expects to complete next year.

"The bear management plan was created over 20 years ago, when the goal of the commission was to increase the bear population," Olfenbuttel said. "The bear management plan managed bears in a different way than we need to manage them now."

Tori Perry, emergency response manager at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said bear populations are not something that humans need to control and using hunting to control any wild animal population does not work. She said when animals are killed, their numbers may decline in the short term but increase over time to make up for lost members and move into other areas where hunting is banned.

"Calling it a form of control is a little bit sneaky," said Perry, adding that the commission and other interests make money from hunting. "The thing to do if you really want to control human-bear interactions is to have basic control of the food sources."

Towns, cities try to address problem

Increasing hunting opportunities may not help much with nuisance complaints in cities and neighborhoods. Mike Carraway, a biologist with the commission in WNC, said towns and cities could also pass laws to help cut down on bear complaints and human-bear interactions.

"I think one thing that is going to have to happen down the road is that city and county governments are going to have to take it more seriously, in terms of adopting good management practices," he said.

Most municipalities don't have ordinances specifically dealing with bears, but some local governments are talking about ways to reduce complaints and conflicts.

"It's a problem," said Buncombe County Commission Chairman David Gantt. "We recognize it, and we are talking amongst ourselves about good solutions."

Montreat has been getting calls from other cities and towns about its ordinance, passed in 2003, encouraging residents to take measures to cut down on bear attractants. Residents must place garbage in bearproof containers if they are left out overnight, and the town has increased education about living in bear country.

Carraway said the ordinance has helped reduce the number of complaints he receives from Montreat residents.

Town Administrator Ron Nalley said the town has not had as many problems this year as some other areas in and around Asheville.

"I wouldn't say it is totally resolved, but we are working in the right direction," he said. "As far as normal complaints to Town Hall, we've had some, but in the past we've had a lot more."

In April, Asheville passed a law that a resident could not knowingly or willingly leave out a substance that draws bears or other wild animals. Marsha Stickford, neighborhood coordinator for the city, said the law is meant to educate residents rather than to be punitive.

Brenda Sears, animal services supervisor at the Police Department, said the ordinance has not cut down on the number of calls the department has received about bears. But, she did not think that a stricter policy is necessary.

"Everyone just needs to get informed and educated," Sears said.

Those who work with bears agree increased hunting opportunities and laws can only do so much to cut down on interactions between humans and bears, and complaints about problem bears.

"It is incumbent on us," Warburton said. "We need to learn how to live in bear country, even if it means some inconvenience for us."

Additional Facts
Living in bear country
Black bears are seldom aggressive toward people and are generally not dangerous if they are left alone, but they can become a nuisance by getting into garbage cans, tearing down bird feeders and eating pet foods left outside. They are also attracted to yards that have natural foods like apple trees, blackberry bushes, blueberries or other trees and shrubs that produce nuts and berries. Most bear problems can be resolved by removing all food sources. The bears will leave when they can't find anything else to eat.