State officials and nature lovers alike are hoping a new law will help to reduce encounters between humans and bears. The law allows a game warden to order a property owner to remove outside food sources that attract bears. It also lays out rules for shooting bears, including a requirement that the property owner has good reason to do so and files a written report with a game warden within twelve hours.
Colonel Robert Rooks, head of the Fish and Wildlife law enforcement division, says he had hoped a record bear kill during last fall’s hunting season would reduce encounters between bears and humans. He says that so far, that hasn’t happened.