Bears & Trash

This is a progression map of when and where bear reports came in across Colorado in 2021. Colorado Parks and Wildlife received 3,701 reports on bears that year, which was down from 4,943 in 2020 and 5,369 in 2019. Nearly one-third of all reports CPW receives involves trash as a source of conflict with bears. To learn more about living with bears, please visit https://cpw.state.co.us/learn/Pages/L...

‘It’s not a bear problem; it’s a human problem’

A black bear has made the subdivisions of Steamboat II and Silver Spur home for the past three years with little impact on his human neighbors, but during a dry summer, the bruin is very hungry and making its presence known.

Some residents living in the neighborhoods west of Steamboat Springs say they’re worried the bear has exhibited more brash behavior this month, such as entering an open garage during the afternoon and pulling bags of trash out of an open trash can. However, wildlife officials say daytime activity is not uncommon for a hungry bear, especially during a drought.

The city of Steamboat Springs and area wildlife officials hope Routt County’s black bears wake up to secured trash cans and less access to human food.

On Tuesday, Nov. 12, the city kicked off a revamp of policies intended to keep bears and humans safe, particularly revising city trash ordinances to prevent bears from breaking into residents’ refuse. Steamboat Springs City Council members hope to have policy changes in place before bears emerge from hibernation next spring.