Black Bear Task Force - Recommended Goals & Strategies

Black Bear Task Force Report and Recommendations
To The Maryland Department of Natural Resources 
March 28, 2003

Recommended Goals and Strategies for inclusion in Maryland's Black Bear Management Plan for 2003 

Goal 1 - Population Viability: 

To ensure the long-term viability of the black bear population in Maryland through comprehensive research, monitoring, management, education, and protection programs. 

Goal 2 - Maximizing Cultural Carrying Capacity (CCC): 

To maintain black bear populations throughout Maryland at the maximum CCC level. CCC can fluctuate and is not a static value. (Note: The public attitude survey will be a key consideration in determining CCC). 

"CCC is the maximum number of bears in an area that is acceptable to the human population. The CCC is a function of the human tolerance to bears and the benefits people derive from bears. It is different for each constituency, location, and point in time. Development of bear population management objectives to meet the CCC are subjective and involve a combination of social, economic, political, and biological perspectives. " (VDGIF 2002) 

The goal of maintaining or achieving long-term population viability in Maryland should be prioritized even when CCC is exceeded. "Minimum viable bear population levels may exceed CCC objectives, especially in areas with high human densities. In these situations, long-term viability of bears may depend on recognizing potential human-bear problems. Increased knowledge and better understanding of bears could lead to increased public tolerance of bears (i.e. raise CCC nearer to the minimum viable population level.). " (VDGIF 2002) 

Strategies: 

• Determine by periodic survey and other means the CCC for black bears for each county. 
  

• Employ an Integrated Wildlife Damage Management approach in meeting CCC. This would include a systematic and comprehensive approach to identify and determine the nature and severity of damage and prioritize solutions on a scale of least to most invasive or injurious to the animal causing damage. 

Goal 3 - Habitat Conservation and Management: 

To conserve black bear habitat in Maryland, consistent with bear population objectives and with emphasis on areas of special significance. 

Strategies: 

• Initiate progressive programs that identify and protect bear habitat. 
  

• Develop a Black Bear Habitat Conservation plan in partnership with county governments with a goal of preserving, protecting, and conserving bear habitat. 
  

• Monitor outdoor recreational demands that negatively impact bear habitat, and implement strategies to mitigate these impacts. 
  

Goal 4- Human-Bear Conflicts: 

To promote human safety, protect agricultural income, protect personal property, and address conflicts between humans and bears in such a way that maximizes CCC. 

Strategies: 

• Create a comprehensive black bear management plan that identifies information and monitoring needs and establishes conflict resolution strategies to ensure that a prioritized progression from non-lethal to lethal approaches are mandated. Hunting should be considered only after an acceptable plan that establishes and documents its need as a wildlife management tool to attain CCC. 
  

• Prioritize black bear education and information programs within the DNR, and to continue an aggressive public education campaign to educate the public on black bear life history, habitat, and bear behavior. DNR needs to remain vigilant in teaching residents and tourists what they can do to minimize conflicts with bears. This information should be disseminated in the school systems and at highway rest areas, billboards, flyers to be handed out at State Parks, signs at campsites, via public service announcements, etc. 
  

• Provide training programs for public agencies that are first responders to situations involving people and bears, e.g. training in aversive conditioning techniques. 
  

• Encourage local governments to enact ordinances to mandate or provide incentives for the use of bear-proof trash containers in residential areas, developments, and tourist areas where bears have become acclimated to trash as a food source. 
  

• Establish procedures under which individual problem bears are handled. These procedures should categorize bear behavior into that which requires no action to that warranting destruction of an individual. These procedures may include non-transferable permits to individuals experiencing ongoing and intolerable damage to kill individual offending animals in the most humane manner possible. 
  

• Continue to respond in a timely manner to nuisance bear complaints, and maintain a database to ascertain any trends that may be developing. DNR needs to revamp its reporting and record keeping relative to reported bear complaints and make this information readily available to the public. 
  

• Encourage DNR to work with public safety agencies to develop an emergency plan to be implemented in the extremely rare event of a black bear attack on a human. Personnel who are first responders to these situations need to be adequately trained and have the proper equipment to dispatch a bear. 
  

• Encourage DNR to include in its messages that bears are wild and their behavior is unpredictable. Although extremely rare, attacks on humans have occurred in North America, and bears are capable of inflicting serious injuries and death. Guidelines should be published that advise the public to treat bear encounters with extreme caution. 

Goal 5 - Bear Hunting: 

To include black bear hunting in an Integrated Wildlife Damage Management Approach to reduce human-bear conflicts and as a means to attain CCC. 

Strategies: 

• Use "Regulated Hunting" to target nuisance bears and to achieve and maintain the desired population objective i.e. CCC. Adjustments to length and timing of season and methods of take will be used to manipulate the magnitude, sex composition, and age composition of the harvest. 
  

• Employ systematic monitoring of the bear population for regional abundances and sex and age composition to evaluate the impacts of a hunting program on the desired population objective i.e. CCC. 

Goal 6 - Ethics of Bear Hunting Methods: 

To ensure that black bear hunting methods in Maryland are fair and sportsmanlike and conform to the ethics of "fairchase." 

Strategies: 

• Consider humane issues when deciding methods of take. The following bear hunting techniques should not be permitted: baiting, use of dogs, and spring hunting. 

Goal 7 - Landowner and Citizen Conflicts with Bear Hunting: 

To ensure that bear hunting activities are consistent with and respect the rights of private property owners and other Maryland citizens. 

Goal 8 - Non-hunting Recreation: 

To provide opportunities for non-hunting recreation associated with bears in Maryland with a focus on information and education designed to minimize negative human-bear interactions. 

Goal 9 - Public Values: 

To consider public values when implementing various bear management options. 

Strategies: 

Determine the perceptions, desires, and attitudes of people in Maryland concerning black bears and to enable the public to provide input on the bear management program. Public understanding and support are imperative for an effective management plan. 

Goal 10 - Animal Welfare: 

To ensure that all aspects of Maryland's bear management program are conducted in a humane manner. 

Strategies: 

• Consider the humane treatment of bears in all aspects of black bear management. 
  

• Investigate all reports of inhumane activities regarding bears and prosecute. 
  

• Train and equip Law Enforcement Officers to euthanize injured bears. 

Goal 11 - Funding the Bear Management Program: 

To provide funding mechanisms to support the attainment of black bear management goals and objectives. 

Strategies: 

• Use revenue from bear hunting licenses and permits, etc. as a funding source for the bear management program. If a bear hunting program is initiated, the task force recommends that the State of Maryland no longer provide monetary compensation to landowners for bear damage. 
  

• In the event that a bear hunting program is not initiated, the Task Force recommends that the State of Maryland provides 100% compensation for eligible bear damage claims. The Task Force suggests that DNR request a $50,000 annual appropriation from the General Assembly as a source of funding for bear damage compensation. 
  

• In the event that a bear hunting program is not initiated, the Task Force encourages the General Assembly to pass legislation to discontinue the sale of Black Bear Conservation Stamps as a revenue-generating program for the bear damage compensation program. The current investment in this program (time, energy, manpower and materials) is greater than the revenue generated. 
  

• The General Assembly should authorize new avenues of funding that would be directed to the DNR for the purpose of black bear management, research, education, habitat protection, and conflict resolution. 
  

• Hunting license revenues and federal excise taxes on sporting arms and ammunition provide the primary funding source for wildlife management in Maryland. In the event that a regulated bear hunting program is not initiated, DNR should change the classification of the black bear from a "Game" to a "Non-game" species. At the same time hunting license revenues should no longer be used as the primary funding source for bear management. 

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