Protecting Black Bears
By addressing the human side of human-bear conflict, we prevent conflict before it begins .
Colorado Bear Coalition
Featured on CBS News
November 2025
Featured on CBS News
〰️
Featured on CBS News 〰️
The Colorado Bear Coalition works with Boulder Bear Coalition, a local nonprofit, to build enclosures on The Hill, a notoriously high human-bear conflict area in Boulder. Learn about their groundbreaking efforts to reduce the #1 reason that bears are in town -unsecured trash!
Watch the news reel HERE
Read CBC news article HERE
Bear Legislation
A statewide policy change to reduce human–bear conflict is expected to move forward in the 2026 legislative session—a shift that would finally allow wildlife officers to address negligent attractant management before conflicts escalate.
While CPW and DNR are leading the legislation at this stage, the groundwork began here with the Colorado Bear Coalition. The data we’ve gathered, the pilot projects we’ve built, and the collaborative approach we’ve taken brought this issue to the state level. It’s the kind of progress that happens quietly—out of public view—but has the potential to change outcomes for bears across Colorado.
If passed, this legislation will prevent unnecessary conflicts and save more bears from relocation or euthanasia across Colorado.
For details of the draft language, see CPW’s outline of the bill and Department of Natural Resources, Draft Legislative Deliberative below. This information is current as of November 2025. CBC will update this page as draft language is updated.
The following is the original (abbreviated) list of 7 recommendations that CBC provided to Governor Polis’ Senior Policy Advisor for Wildlife, Agriculture, and Rural Economic and CPW Director Jeff Davis August 2023 and October 2023 respectively.
Bears and Hyperphagia
Bears are bulking up for hibernation!
Let’s do our part to keep bears safe during hyperphagia (time of huge calorie intake) so they can settle in for their long winter sleep.
How you can help:
SECURE YOUR TRASH
This is the #1 reason bears are in town -easy calories!Buy a bear resistant cart or lease one from your local trash hauler
BIRD FEEDERS
Only feed birds when bears are hibernating (Nov-April)
If you must have a feeder up during active bear season (May-Oct) follow these recommendations:
Suspend the feeder at least 10 feet off the ground
Make sure it is at least 10 feet away from any trees, posts, decks, or other objects bears can climb
Clean up scattered seed on the ground
Consider replacing with bird attracting plants
Keep in mind that bears eat during the day (especially during hyperphagia) and they also love hummingbird feeders!
HARVEST FRUIT TREES
Contact your local fruit-gleaning program—or start one of your own! (Contact us if you need help!)
It’s a fun, community-building activity that helps keep bears safe by reducing attractants. It also supports residents who are unable to harvest their own trees and provides fresh fruit to people experiencing food insecurity, as well as to local sanctuary animals.
USE DETERRENTS
Let bears know that town is not a safe or welcoming place for them. (A little tough love goes a long way.) If you must take a photo, do it quickly and then let the bear know they are not welcome!Electric mats located at points of entry to a house or feed storage area.
If you’d like to borrow an electric door mat, let us know. We have an electric mat loaner program and can also connect you with local bear groups in your area who offer loaner mats as well.Noise Blow horns, bang pots and pans
Electric fencing around beehives and chicken coops
Bears are Opportunists
Given a choice, bears will choose the easiest, most reliable source of calories. This is especially true during hyperphagia, when they consume 20,000+ calories a day to prepare for hibernation.
Faced with the option of spending 10+ hours searching for berries versus spending 1–2 hours in town eating trash that’s always available (and yes—bears know the trash schedule!), the choice is obvious.
In places like South Lake Tahoe, some bears never hibernate because they have year-round access to human food. This disrupts their natural physiology, keeps them active when they should be resting, and significantly increases their risk of conflict with people.
It’s completely normal for natural food sources to fluctuate, especially in winter when fruits and plants go dormant and fruits disappear. The decline in natural food is one of the key signals that triggers hibernation.
When we provide artificial food sources, intentionally or unintentionally, we interrupt this natural cycle and put bears at risk.
Let’s not interfere with nature.
By keeping human food, trash, bird feeders, beehives and chickens secured, bears can stay wild, stay healthy, and stay alive.
CBC Newsletters
Human-Bear Conflict Reduction Grant
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2025
Governor Polis and CPW announced the 2025 grant recipients.
August 27, 2025 -
2024
Governor Polis and CPW announced the 2024 grant recipients.
August 22, 2024 -
2023
Governor Polis and CPW announce the 2023 grant recipients.
August 22, 2023 -
2022
Governor Polis announces the first recipients of this annual grant.
July 15, 2022