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BLACK BEAR SIGN Whether you want to track them or steer clear of them, you should be able to recognize signs that bears are in the area. Here are some tips on what to look for to track bears. Video and text provided by Sue Mansfield, MS and the Wildlife Research Institute Tracks and Trails Tracks and Trails Feeding Feeding Overturned Stones Overturned Stones Straddle Marking Straddle Marking Tree Bites and Scratches Tree Bites and Scratches Scat Scat Utility Pole Damage Utility Pole Damage Shredded Logs and Stumps Shredded Logs and Stumps Rubs Rubs Hornet Nest Remnants Hornet Nest Remnants Day Beds Day Beds Dens Dens

Item List WhitePine001 Minnesota's White Pines Read More WhitePine002 To most people who live among them, the white pine is their favorite tree. Read More WhitePine003 These giants live up to 634 years and were once so plentiful a person could travel from the Atlantic shore to Minnesota and seldom be out of sight of them. Read More WhitePine004 For thousands of years, Minnesota's white pine forest was home to caribou , . . . Read More WhitePine005 . . . pine martens, and dozens of colorful birds like pine grosbeaks and red crossbills. Read More WhitePine006 The forest seemed destined to last for centuries. When cutting began, white pines larger than any in Minnesota today were common -- white pines up to six feet in diameter and over 150 feet tall. Read More WhitePine007 The rule for good forestry is to cut trees no faster than the forest grows new ones. This is called sustainable forestry. It's the only way to produce wood and keep our forests and wildlife -- and jobs in the timber industry. Read More WhitePine008 In Minnesota, white pines have always been cut at unsustainable rates, and we've nearly lost our white pine forests and our white pine industry. Read More WhitePine009 The rush to cut white pines started on the Atlantic Coast. Read More WhitePine010 Loggers cut their way west through Michigan and Wisconsin, gradually expanding America's frontier to the vast white pine forests of Minnesota. Read More WhitePine011 The green and red squares together represent Minnesota's 27 million acres of forests of all types before cutting began in 1837. The red square represents the three and a half million acres dominated by old growth white pine forest and mixed white and red pine forest. Read More WhitePine012 People thought Minnesota's white pine forests were inexhaustible -- and the forests did support a booming industry for almost a hundred years -- but in 1932 the white pine industry collapsed. Read More

BEARS IN THE NEWS The Minnesota Star Tribune By Karen Tolkkinen October 23, 2024 Tolkkinen: Why I lost my fear of black bears Button Lemonadist By Erik Ness July 03, 2024 The Black Bears Are Alright Button Duluth News Tribune By John Myers May 06, 2024 Forest Service imposes new food storage rules in Boundary Waters Button Washington Post By Kate Morgan October 10, 2023 Black bears in the backyard: Why they’re everywhere, and what to do Button The Conversation By Neil Carter August 22, 2023 Policy framework for coexisting with wolves, bears and mountain lions could benefit both people and the environment Button The Ely ECHO By Elizabeth Granger Mesabi Tribune August 19, 2023 North American Bear Center in Ely ranked No. 4 museum in Minnesota by Tripadvisor Button TIMBERJAY Marshall Helmberger July 19, 2023 BERRY ABUNDANT Button Mountain Journal by Todd Wilkinson May 18, 2023 Famous Jackson Hole Grizzly 399 Wows Again, But Now What? Button TIMBERJAY By Marshall Helmberger May 3, 2023 Late spring prompts more bear complaints Button TIMBERJAY By Marshall Helmberger September 14, 2022 Bear registrations drop sharply, as anticipated Button TIMBERJAY By Marshall Helmberger August 24, 2022 Advantage goes to bears as season opens Sept. 1 Button TIMBERJAY Marshall Helmberger July 22, 2022 Berry Bonanza Button TIMBERJAY By Marshall Helmberger March 30, 2022 Do bears need a break? Button The Ely ECHO Ely Echo Newspapers April 1, 2022 Prevent conflicts with bears with these spring tips from the DNR Button TIMBERJAY Marshall Helmberger September 22, 2021 Are bears in trouble in NE? Button Bring Me The News Shaymus McLaughlin June 15, 2021 Black bears at the bird feeder Button Omere By Gosia Bryja May 15, 2021 Black Bears Do Not Deserve This Fate Button Bring Me The News Joe Nelson August 17, 2020 More 'bear-human conflicts' Button Duluth News Tribune By John Myers August 13, 2020 Dumpster-diving bears becoming a burden in Northeastern Minnesota Button ABC News By Julia Jacobo September 5, 2019 Black bear attacks on humans are rare but often begin as scuffles with dogs, experts say Button

6292e546-dac1-4281-b46e-8147d80916fc < Back Slide 77 of 83 < > Dead white pines are special because they have just the right amount of branches for big birds to land on without hitting their wings on other branches, and they tower over the other trees, so birds can watch for danger and food while they rest.

9a574ff5-b67a-418b-b982-6584be6e39ba < Back Slide 51 of 83 < > Or do white pines have values beyond wood, and might these other values become more important to all of us as white pines become scarce?

September 22, 2021 Are bears in trouble in NE? Back-to-back high hunter harvests, limited natural foods, pose challenges for recovery The Arrowhead has long been the heart of Minnesota bear country. But continued high harvest levels, particularly of female bears, is putting pressure on the population. Posted Wednesday, September 22, 2021 5:39 pm Marshall Helmberger REGIONAL—Are black bears in trouble in far northeastern Minnesota? After back-to-back poor food years and an exceptionally high harvest of female bears in management zones in the border country, wildlife managers believe it will take time, possibly a long time, for the bear population to bounce back. It’s already taken longer than DNR wildlife managers had expected. The DNR slashed the number of bear permits it issued to hunters in northern Minnesota beginning in 2012 in an effort to rebuild a population that had fallen by 50 percent between 2000 and 2010. Twenty years ago, the DNR estimated the state’s bear population at 20,000-25,000, which prompted the agency to boost the bear harvest in order to reduce bear and human conflicts. The management decision worked, perhaps too well, notes Andy Tri, acting bear project leader for the Department of Natural Resources. “The bear population declined faster than anticipated, which is why we cut permits so dramatically in 2012 as an attempt to stabilize the population,” said Tri. For the most part, the state’s bear population appears to be stable or increasing slightly, notes Tri, although that’s mostly because the population is increasing in the state’s no-quota zone, located on the south and west edges of black bear range. The bear estimate in the state’s quota zone, which includes northeastern Minnesota, dipped slightly last year, as another poor food year pushed the bear harvest over 3,000. In northeastern Minnesota, DNR studies indicate that hunter take comprises about 80 percent of black bear mortality in any given year. Because the DNR’s population estimates reflect statewide data, they don’t provide much help in understanding what might be happening here in the North Country, where the potential for bear recovery is more limited. That’s true, in part, because the region’s limited food availability impacts bear reproduction. “The BWCA and areas of the Canadian Shield have the poorest foods in the entire state,” notes Tri. According to Tri, relatively limited natural food in the far north delays the onset of sexual maturity among female bears, or sows, which typically don’t breed in the region for the first time until age five or six, about a year later than bears in more southerly parts of the state. Many, if not most, sows never live that long. The average age of a hunter-harvested sow is just three years of age, according to the DNR, which means a substantial amount of future reproductive potential is lost each year. That fact reflects the somewhat limited tool kit available to wildlife managers when it comes to recovering the black bear populations. When the numbers of whitetail deer decline, for example, the DNR routinely restricts the harvest of female deer, or does, which are readily distinguished from adult male deer due to their lack of antlers. Maintaining more breeding does in the population allows game species, like deer, to recover more quickly from population declines, whether due to hunting pressure, predation, winter conditions, or disease. While there are subtle differences in the appearance of female and male black bears, DNR wildlife managers have determined that limiting the harvest of females isn’t feasible, since most hunters won’t be able to reliably recognize the differences in the field. Which is why the DNR has not limited hunter harvest of black bears to boars only. Whitetails also reach sexual maturity much sooner in Minnesota than do black bears, which gives whitetails much greater reproductive potential. Female deer in the state typically enter estrus in the November of their second year, or about 18 months after birth. In better habitat, they can even reach sexual maturity in the November of their first year. In addition, whitetails typically breed every year, while black bears in the state usually breed once every two years. The one factor that can help protect female bears is their greater reluctance to approach baits left out by hunters. That reluctance means that in an average or good food year, the harvest mix often runs 60-65 percent males, according to DNR data. That protective factor disappears, however, in poor food years. Without alternative foods on the landscape, hunger drives female bears to hunters’ baits and the result is hunters taking more females. “My quick summary of the Tower area shows 50.6 percent females in the harvest as of Sept. 14,” said Tower DNR wildlife manager Tom Rusch. “This is clearly very high. A bear harvest with such a high adult female percentage could have long term impacts on the bear population.” Tri agrees. “When harvest is high during a bad food year, it can have significant implications on the proportion of the population that is made up of reproductive females,” he said. “We won’t know what the full effects of the season will be until we get the final age data back in February, but it’s been a hard couple years for bears in the Northeast.” Rusch predicts a decline in the region’s bear population this year and he expects the DNR will need to reduce its bear permit numbers in the future in order to help the population recover. Tri said it’s still too early to know for sure, although he acknowledges that the high harvests in 2020 and 2021 are “exceptional.” The impact of lower permit numbers isn’t always predictable. DNR wildlife officials had hoped that slashing the number of permits issued to bear hunters, beginning in 2012, would allow the bear population to recover, but the population in the quota zone hasn’t shown much growth despite several years of historically low bear permits. That’s true, in part, because the decline in the number of permits has coincided with a dramatic increase in hunter success in recent years, at least in the part of the state subject to harvest quotas, which includes the North Country. As recently as the early 2010s, only about one-in-four bear hunters was successful. In recent years, however, 45-50 percent of hunters have bagged a bear, a remarkable change that has blunted the impact of permit reductions. Last year, 57 percent of hunters in the quota zone bagged a bear, which pushed the total harvest up to 3,203 bears, the highest since 2006. Tri estimates a final harvest this year of 2,900 bears, which (except for last year) would be the highest since 2007.

756ac5d3-fb9d-42f0-bf96-6847768fc80a < Back Grunts From Mother to Cub Grunts are most often from mothers to cubs. The cub is saying, “Mom, come back. I need you.” When she comes, we’ll hear the mother give a couple higher-pitched grunts of greeting and then her usual grunts of concern.

26e19514-ff54-47a2-a1ac-fb9b07f7bdaa < Back Slide 36 of 83 < > They decided to stop planting white pines, even healthy ones, but to go on cutting them. That policy of cutting white pines without replanting them has continued until recently, and it's the biggest reason why there are so few white pines today, and a major reason why there are so few young white pines. That's not the only reason though.

01320fbe-1f8a-4a7f-a449-a05239954ca8 Utility Pole Damage Utility "trees" are favorites for marking.

f20d7aee-42b8-4e9f-96ff-b85c8ad268b0 < Back Licking Just Before Birth A half an hour before birth she begins licking herself. Previous Next

4d920656-1ca5-47c1-9225-7092667a1314 < Back Slide 70 of 83 < > When cubs have to stay up trees for hours to escape danger, it's important in spring in northern Minnesota that the tree be a white pine that can give shade instead of a deciduous tree that doesn't have any leaves yet because even on cool days, the sun can make cubs' black fur so hot they can die if they can't find shade.

VOCALIZATIONS AND BEHAVIORS When a b ear makes sounds and gestures, what do they mean to communicate? We cannot speak bear, but we can have a very good idea what a bear wants to say when it speaks. We can watch how a bear communicates with other bears and then recognize the similarities when a bear tries to communicate with a human. What we have learned is that when bears communicate with people in this manner, an attack on a person has not happened. Too often bears are killed by people for communicating with people the best way they know how. The bears are killed because their behavior during communication is misunderstood as being aggressive and dangerous. The communicating bear is not aggressive, it is uneasy and nervous. Mike McIntosh WiseAboutBears.org Video and Audio files provided by the Wildlife Research Institute and the North American Bear Center Family and Friendly Sounds Cub Screaming When cubs are afraid, they scream. That’s the sound that brings mom running. Cubs Nursing Black bear cubs make motor-like pleasure sounds as they nurse. Friendly Sounds of a Captive Bear Friendly sounds are tongue-clicks and grunts. Grunts From Mother to Cub Grunts are most often from mothers to cubs. The cub is saying, “Mom, come back. I need you.” When she comes, we’ll hear the mother give a couple higher-pitched grunts of greeting and then her usual grunts of concern. Motherly Grunts June with her cubs Spring 2007. Mourning a Missing Cub They use their human-like voice to express a number of emotions. This sound of mourning is from a mother who is missing a cub. she made this sound for 3 days, even while nursing her other cubs, until the moment they all were re-united. Tongue Clicks During Courting Tongue-clicks are most intense when they are from a male to an estrus females. Scary Sounds You Shouldn't Be Afraid Of Harmless Nervous Bluster These instinctive behaviors are displays of nervousness and not preludes to an attack Moaning This moan of fear is sometimes interpreted as a growl. It’s often from a bear too scared to come down from a tree. Forceful blowing indicates high anxiety Anxiety is expressed with a long, narrowed muzzle and forceful blowing, sometimes followed by clacking teeth. Huffing is the release of nervous energy Bears huff when they’re getting over a scare, like a person taking a deep breath. They do it when they reach safety up a tree, when they finally dare to come down, and when they stop running away. Bluff-charging is harmless bluster This mother had an unusual tendency to bluff-charge. When she got close, she showed fear by blowing and clacking her teeth just before she retreated. Pounce and slap = nervous uncertainty When a bear is uncertain, it often lunges toward the possible danger, slaps the ground or a tree, and blows. It’s just part of assessing whether to run or stay. Sounds of Conflict Bears make a deep-throated pulsing sound when they are very distressed.