Advocates work to reduce black bear encounters in Lake Tahoe ‘hot spot,’ as state charts new strategy

By Lysée Mitri

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    SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, California (KCRA) — The Department of Fish and Wildlife is working on a new Black Bear Conservation Plan for California.

One of the goals is to minimize conflict as the number of encounters between black bears and people climbs in the state.

The Lake Tahoe Basin is specifically called out as a “hot spot.”

“We’re in their territory,” CJ Russell, who knows this firsthand, said.

A black bear and her cub had been living right outside Russell’s South Lake Tahoe apartment.

“She broke in there. She broke this,” Russell said while pointing to damage to the fence surrounding her home and a shed in the backyard.

She came uncomfortably close to her new neighbor while stepping outside one day.

“Probably two feet. Pretty close,” Russell said, nodding.

Russell said she felt absolute fear.

“She had slapped her paw down and huffed at me,” Russell said about the bear.

So, Russell called the BEAR League, a resource many in the area also take up.

“Our numbers and phone calls go up every year,” Ann Bryant, the executive director of BEAR League, said.

Bryant founded the nonprofit organization to keep bears safe and wild in their natural habitat while educating the public.

“What has changed when it comes to encounters between bears and people?” KCRA 3 Investigates asked Bryant.

“In the 30 years since I’ve been here, there’s been an influx of more and more people,” she said.

More people living full-time and even part-time in Tahoe and more tourists visiting the area, resulting in more sightings, Bryant said.

“Like in the winter when the bears go under houses and look for hibernation down under, under houses, that has escalated,” she said. “The first year that we did this, it was one mama bear with three yearling cubs under a house, one, a total of four bears. Now, it’s over 100 bears every winter.”

Fish and Wildlife officials also keep track of black bears, noting when they cross paths with people.

The latest draft of an updated Black Bear Conservation Plan for California shows reports of human and black bear encounters jumped in 2021 and 2022 to an average of 1,678 a year compared with an average of 674 a year during 2017-2020.

That climb came as the department reviewed and updated its black bear policy for the first time in more than 20 years, requiring staff to use an online incident reporting system to document every response.

“A lot of it, especially visitors to the [Tahoe] basin, just don’t know how to use bear boxes,” Alexia Ronning, a human-wildlife conflict specialist with Fish and Wildlife, said.

Most cases involve things like food or garbage that attract bears. They are situations that can often be avoided.

“A lot of common things we see is, like people leave food in their vehicles. So, the bear can break into that. Cooler is out on the back porch. People like to put their soda and beer and coolers out on the back porch. That gets broken into,” Ronning said. “Not cleaning your grills, which obviously people want to barbecue during the summer, which is great. When you’re in bear country, you need to take the extra steps of cleaning that grill after you use it. Bird feeders, no bird feeders, they just need to go. Ponds are also an attractant. Bears like water.”

The goal is to keep bears wild for their safety and yours.

That is why the BEAR League loans out electric doormats after bears break into a home and find food.

“The bear gets a reminder that he shouldn’t be doing that. Next time he comes, it gets a little shock,” Bryant said. “Doesn’t kill him.”

Others secure their home with electric wires lining entry points, like doors and windows.

“So, it goes all the way around so they can’t get in my crawl space,” Kathi Zollinger said.

She volunteers with the BEAR League in South Lake Tahoe.

“My first bear encounter, I was living in the north shore,” Zollinger said. “Ran away from it. When I saw it, it was at night and I was scared to death.”

She has learned a lot since then.

“It was terrible because they tell you not to run, and that’s the first thing I did.” Now, she gets to pass on her knowledge to people, like Russell.

“As they had said, be loud, take pots and pans,” Russell said, relaying what she learned from BEAR League volunteers.

She said the black bear and cub living outside her home left and likely will not return, thanks to the volunteers.

“They really helped me. They really, really helped me,” she said.

As the state is in the process of updating its Black Bear Conservation Plan for California, the public can provide input until June 14.

Fish and Wildlife says the two main goals of the plan are to conserve black bear populations while also providing opportunities for black bear hunting, viewing and public education.

Data cited in the proposed plan also shows a shift in attitude in the department’s approach to wildlife management.

The number of black bears killed because of depredation permits has dropped over the years, going from 100 in 2017 to 30 in 2022. By law, property owners can apply to Fish and Wildlife for a permit to kill a bear if it caused damage on its land.

“Though these trends may partly reflect changes in human attitudes toward black bears, there was also a significant policy shift in 2022 that is likely influencing recent patterns in depredation permit issuance and outcomes. CDFW’s black bear policy (CDFW 775 2022a) prioritizes non-lethal conflict mitigation measures before issuing permits for lethal take when possible,” the current draft of the plan states.

Fish and Wildlife intends to review and update its black bear conservation plan every 10 years.

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