Woodstock’s nine-member task force on bears has proposed a law intended to cut down on bear-human interactions, Proposed as an amendment to the town’s law governing solid waste, the new regulations target human food sources.
“What we know is that bears and people come into conflict with one another primarily based on human food sources,” said task force member Keisha Hoerrner. “A bear finds a garbage can, a bird feeder, pet food outside, and thinks, ‘Oh, what an easy meal,’ and continues to come back then to that same place. The more often the bear returns, the more likely there is to have a conflict. And unfortunately for the bears, many times those conflicts then result in the bear having to be killed. In fact, I’ve heard the DEC representatives several times say a fed bear is a dead bear. So trying to make sure that we keep that from happening is very important.”
The law prohibits intentional feeding of bears and focuses on unintentional feeding.
First would come a warning, and then there can be enforcement, Hoerrner said. The second and third offenses would result in fines starting at $100 and increasing with each offense. The building department and police would enforce the law.
Supervisor Bill McKenna, while in support of the law, said he believes the first offense should be left to the discretion of the building inspector or police officer.
“We’ve all been pulled over at some point in our lives for going too fast,” said McKenna. “Not everybody gets a ticket for it. And the police officer has the ability to say, in this instance, I don’t think it’s warranted. And I think our police department is really good about not just giving out tickets.”
The DEC would like to see laws like this throughout the Hudson Valley,
The task force was formed in 2023 after the DEC saw a sharp uptick in the number of Woodstock human-bear interactions. The proliferation of short-term rentals resulted in numerous unattended trash containers providing easy access to food waste for hungry bears. Guests would leave at the end of the weekend and the trash wasn’t picked up until the weekly pickup day, which could be several days later.
The task force includes councilmember Anula Courtis.
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