Teaching old bears new tricks

To the editor,

Tracy Chamberlin’s story (Telegraph Sept. 15) helps confirm what I wrote Bear Smart’s Bryan Peterson years ago when running (unsuccessfully) for state representative: feeding bears in a chosen area, away from human populations, makes bears less likely to seek food in areas infested by humans. Full bears = happy bears unwilling to risk contact with humans.

Bear Smart’s efforts to adjust human behaviors are less likely to be successful than modifying wild bear behavior and would almost guarantee, locked garbage containers locked or not, fewer encounters with bears who happen to be hungry, searching for any food source, in any place.

– Christopher Navage, Durango