Black bears regain foothold in Wisconsin after 100-year absence- Wisconsin State Journal

By RON SEELY | rseely@madison.com

BARABOO — In the deep summer green of a hardwood stand in Devil’s Lake State Park, Bill Ishmael puts on his reading glasses and stares closely at the bark of a slender tree. Up and down the trunk run parallel gouges and scars. In several places the bark is punctured by deep holes.

“We’ll put this one down as a hit,” said Ishmael, a wildlife biologist with the state Department of Natural Resources.

The pronouncement, coupled with the damage to the tree bark, immediately causes one to become more attentive. Suddenly, the forest feels different. It becomes wilder, deeper, stranger. More mysterious and maybe just a little scarier.

All because this woods may now be home to a black bear.

This spring has marked the beginning of a new era in how the DNR thinks of black bears in southern Wisconsin. With multiple bear sightings coming to the agency every day, including numerous reports of sows with cubs, DNR wildlife experts now believe southern Wisconsin is home to its own population of black bears for the first time since the late 1800s.

And this week saw the beginning of efforts to scientifically gather data on the fledgling population as Ishmael and Becky Roth, also a DNR wildlife biologist, conducted the first bear bait station surveys undertaken in southern Wisconsin.

“This year was just crazy compared to the last two years,” said Roth of bear sightings.  Click Link Below for Full Story!

via Black bears regain foothold in Wisconsin after 100-year absence.

Bear hunting law passes the Oklahoma Senate | NewsOK.com

BY JULIE BISBEE – Capitol Bureau

Published: February 18, 2009

A bill that would allow hunting of black bears passed the Senate on Wednesday.

Senate Bill 450, filed by Sen. Kenneth Corn, D-Poteau, would allow hunters to get a permit to hunt black bears.

Corn said the Department of Wildlife requested a bill as a way to manage the growing black bear population in southeastern Oklahoma. A study of the population done by researchers at Oklahoma State University said there are about 700 to 800 bears in the area. The population is growing by about 12 percent each year.

The Department of Wildlife would set the requirements and seasons for bear hunting. Corn said the department has proposed limiting the number of bears killed each year to 20.  Click Link Below for Full Story!

via Bear hunting law passes the Oklahoma Senate | NewsOK.com.