New York and Pennsylvania are trying to educate the public about the BearWise campaign, in order to lessen conflicts between humans and bears. What is BearWise? It’s an educational outreach …
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New York and Pennsylvania are trying to educate the public about the BearWise campaign, in order to lessen conflicts between humans and bears. What is BearWise? It’s an educational outreach program developed by wildlife biologists and supported by state wildlife agencies nationwide.
According to information published by Jonathan Russell, a wildlife biologist for the NYS DEC in Region 3, technicians and biologists for the DEC respond to hundreds of incidents of bear-human conflicts in the state each year. He correctly states that nearly all are avoidable. We all need to take steps to avoid those conflicts, to protect both us and the bears.
When I was young, black bears were much rarer in my area of the Catskills (around Liberty, NY) than they are now. I think I saw only two in the first few decades of my life. Now I see them several times a year. I really enjoy seeing bears – the black ghosts of the woods.
The number of bears has increased over time and so has the human population. That leads to more conflicts between the two. When there is a conflict, the bear loses. Sometimes they must be euthanized.
Enter BearWise.org, an organization dedicated to reducing the conflicts and helping both humans and bears in the process. There are six basic steps to avoid attracting black bears. First, never approach or feed bears. Second, properly secure all garbage and food. Third, remove bird feeders when bears are active.
A fourth step is to never leave pet food outdoors. Fifth, clean outdoor grills and store them in garages or sheds when not being used. The last of the six steps is to alert your neighbors when there are bears in the area.
Those steps sound like common sense to me. What was it that old Samuel Clemens (you might know him by his pen name, Mark Twain) said about common sense? That’s why we need BearWise to remind us of how to minimize conflicts with black bears.
The six steps listed here are just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. I encourage everyone to check out the website BearWise.org for a wealth of information. The life you save may be your own – or a loved one’s – or that of a black bear that is just following its natural instincts. Everybody wins.
Let’s all respect black bears and avoid conflicts with them while we enjoy the outdoors!
John S. Van Etten is the current president of the Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs of Sullivan County, Inc.
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