— like trash and bird seed — from bears, particularly in the fall as they search for extra calories for winter.
Photo by Ali Longwell
Two Roaring Fork Valley locals have headed to Kalispell, Montana, from Oct. 5-9 to be part of an international workshop and discuss how to change the narrative around human-bear conflicts.
The seventh international Human-Bear Conflicts Workshop, which occurs every three years, brings together wildlife managers, biologists, researchers, nonprofits, and more to collectively address conflicts between communities and bears. This is the second time that Roaring Fork Valley Bear Coalition Founder Daniela Kohl is part of sponsoring the event — she was also part of the 2022 workshop that took place in Lake Tahoe.
“There are no bad bears,” Kohl said. “It’s the human behavior that isn’t very appropriate. Bears don’t know better.”
The workshop will provide both Kohl and Lara Xaiz, wildlife coordinator for the city of Aspen, the opportunity to learn from other groups and places on tools that have worked to mitigate conflict when traditional approaches start to fail, in addition to sharing local experiences and solutions.
“We’re really fortunate that our community has the right mindset where they want to do everything they can to keep the bears safe, as well as keep the communities safe,” Xaiz said. “In Aspen, our community realizes it’s a human problem, not a bear problem. It has taken decades to get to this point, and other towns are still struggling to get that mindset.”
Xaiz will be presenting on what Aspen has learned over the years about how to best manage coexistence, including trash enclosures, proactive patrolling, electric mats, and tree collars.
“I think it’s really important to get our message out there so other towns aren’t just taking baby steps,” Xaiz said. “I’m proud of our community … all in all, we’ve made huge strides over the years.”
Kohl agreed, sharing her excitement to take Roaring Fork Valley success to an international conversation.
“I think there’s huge progress that’s been made,” Kohl said. “We’re getting there, I see it. I think it’s getting better regionally. I hope we get more on the same page nationally.”
But it’s still not perfect. Xaiz noted that there’s been an uptick in the number of bears getting into unlocked cars and unlocked homes in Aspen, including a bear entering the unlocked door of The Ritz-Carlton Club, Aspen Highlands.
“Some people are not locking their doors or windows,” Kohl echoed. “They just have to do better.”
Also present at the Kalispell event is BearWise, a national program of the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies of which Colorado Parks and Wildlife is a member. BearWise is “dedicated to helping people live more responsibly with bears,” according to the organization, by providing content, messaging, and materials based on science and the everyday realities of living in bear country.
“They’re just great,” Kohl said of Bearwise. “They’re one of the most important groups of people because they’re from all over the United States and they constantly refresh the information. It changes all the time. You have to keep growing with it and adapt.”
To learn more about the workshop, visit https://humanbearconflicts.org/.