Tuesday evening Franklin Township supervisor Mary Sears addressed the county commission to petition area leaders to encourage residents to not feed bears.
Franklin Township has dealt with several nuisance bears in the area as a result of humans leaving food out intentionally. Sears says the township has exhausted its resources to curb the interactions between wildlife and residents, reaching out to Michigan DNR, and the Houghton county sheriff for assistance.
They don’t have anything that to cover the residential, recreational, feeding of bears. Only the baiting of bears. But the law is very vague. So, we even reached out to the sheriff to see if they could do anything. The sheriff said yes, they would help, if they had something to go on, an ordinance or something. The township can’t make an ordinance because there is no law on the book that says that we can do that. – Mary Sears, Supervisor, Franklin Township
DNR Wildlife Biology Morgan Lucot shared with the commission studies in other states show bears tend to return to areas where they know where food is. There is very little the department can do to cite people who only feed bears without the intention of hunting the animal.
The problem is there’s been studies done around the country that indicate bears come back to those sites. Or continue to wander and then engage in those bad behaviors. So, while we do it, and relocate the animal, it’s more of a temporary solution for that farmer or landowner to resolve the issue on their land. And take down bird feeders, harvest their crop, or install electric fencing. It’s not a solution to an ongoing problem in a case where the homeowner has no intention of stopping. – Morgan Lucot, Wildlife Biologist, Michigan DNR
Michigan Department of Natural Resources does remove and relocates bears when necessary. However, Lucot adds the animal’s tendency to return to areas with a known food source makes removal difficult. There are also limited resources the department can use to qualify a case for euthanizing a wild animal.
Do not feed bears. According to the Michigan DNR the Upper Peninsula is home to more than 10,000 black bears. Officially Michigan’s bear hunting season starts September 10th.
“More than that. They feel that people are the problem. That we shouldn’t be in their area. That we moved into their area. So its very…” – Mary Sears, Supervisor, Franklin Township
Is there bear hunting permitted in Franklin Township? – Joel Keranen, Commissioner, Houghton County
Bear hunting is interesting because – Mary Sears, Supervisor, Franklin Township
They don’t come back – Joel Keranen, Commissioner, Houghton County
There is a raffle system. – Mary Sears, Supervisor, Franklin Township
I guarantee I can get hunters there for bears. – Joel Keranen, Commissioner, Houghton County
That’s exactly what I told the neighbors. Because I have a huge amount of neighbors that area around there that have these issues. Because you have no idea what it means to have 18 bears in your backyard. Its very scary especially when you have little ones. But bears is a raffle system. – Mary Sears, Supervisor, Franklin Township
Its not easy to get a bear license – Tom Tikkanen, Chair, Houghton County Board of Commissioners
And they do want to hunt them, a number of neighbors have put in for a bear license raffle. But its not like deer when its a nuisance and you can go and shoot them. It doesn’t happen that way. – Mary Sears, Supervisor, Franklin Township
It’s true there is a lottery, but there are a lot of people with bear licenses. And that’s the only way you’re going to eradicate the problem. – Joel Keranen, Commissioner, Houghton County
So there is no bear degradation permits. Not like with deer. Which is what I think you were trying to get at. So there’s no additional permits to harvest bear outside of the hunting season. Only those tags people get through the lottery system. And its not a perfect system. But I do think the community can work together. Hunters want to be successful. And folks who hunt without bait or dogs are not as successful as those with dogs. And so if you’ve got kind of a sure fire area I would think folks would be willing to help out. Its not the ultimate solution. Where there is a major food source bears will find it. That’s what Ive come to learn about bears. And so its not the long term solution. But I am here to help provide guidance, education, and assist you in anyway that i can. I can’t change the law and give our conservation officers the ability to ticket these folks. – Morgan Lucot, Wildlife Biologist, Michigan Department of Natural Resources
