X

Increased bear sightings doesn’t necessarily mean more bears, DEC says

Posted 10/23/16

By JIMMY LAWTON While more bears are being spotted in St. Lawrence County in recent years state conservation officials say that doesn’t necessarily mean the population has risen. Region 6 DEC Big …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Increased bear sightings doesn’t necessarily mean more bears, DEC says

Posted

By JIMMY LAWTON

While more bears are being spotted in St. Lawrence County in recent years state conservation officials say that doesn’t necessarily mean the population has risen.

Region 6 DEC Big Game Biologist Steve Heerkens says bears maybe venturing a bit further than they traditionally have, but they still tend to spend fall and winter in more wooded areas of the county. It was once fairly well established that bear spottings were limited north of Route 11, but that notion has been changing in recent years.

Visitors, not residents

Heerkens say most of the wooded areas in the St. Lawrence Valley aren’t large enough to support bears year round. But, over the summer North Country This Week readers in Lisbon, Waddington and Canton reported daytime sightings of bears. Heerkens said bears likely venture into the valley to feast on corn and apples and other crops, are usually moving back into the southern and more wooded areas as hunting season approaches.

“So they are venturing out further, but not necessarily making these areas their home,” he said.

Heerkens said the DEC doesn’t track local bear populations, as they appear to be abundant in the state. He said animal populations that aren’t in danger are tracked at local levels, because there isn’t a need to spend resources on animals that aren’t in danger.

“We can’t say there is a definitive increase in bears in St. Lawrence County,” he said. “But bears are being harvested in places where they weren’t being harvested before.”

About three years ago conservation officials opened black bear season statewide. That included St. Lawrence County’s WMA Zone 6, which runs along the St. Lawrence River. Many speculated this was due to rising populations, but Heerkens says the decision centered more on keeping bears from mixing with higher populated areas.

He said because the population wasn’t in decline there was no reason to restrict hunting as had been traditionally done.

“After an evaluation it was determined there just wasn’t a need to restrict harvest to particular regions,” he said.

Bear harvest numbers

In St. Lawrence County 129 bears were taken in 2015, while 99 were taken in 2014 and in 2013 only 77 were taken. That number drops to 73 in 2012 and hits and extreme low of 55 in 2011.

However in 2010 an estimated 97 bears were harvested in the county, while 122 were taken in 2009.

Last year 583 black bears were harvested in the northern zone, which includes St. Lawrence County. That’s up from 518 in 2015 and well up rom 2010-14 average of 460.

The historical average from 1991 to 2000 is 295.

Heerkens says that while those numbers may paint a picture of increased population, harvest numbers don’t always correlate with population trends.

He said there are many factors that drive harvest numbers that make such as the interest in hunting bears in a particular year or the experience level of those hunting.

Odd summer

As reported early this year, the warm dry summer may also be contributing to increased bear sightings. Heerkens said bears tend to travel further for food in drought years. This at least partially explains increased reports of bears in the St. Lawrence Valley in towns like Lisbon and Madrid.

“Bear sightings do tend to increase in intensity on warm years,” he said. Heerkens also added that this year was not the biggest year of bear complaints he has seen.

Heerkens says while more bears may be harvested in St. Lawrence County than traditionally had been, there are no worries from the DEC regarding populations in the area. He says the number of bears harvested in this region is far lower than many areas throughout the state.