Colorado Tightens Law on Feeding Bears: How Other States Are Cracking Down
Colorado's tougher bear-feeding law targets unsecured trash and food as states nationwide crack down on attractants.
Colorado has passed a new law aimed at curbing encounters between bears and humans by tightening regulations on feeding wildlife. The law, House Bill 26-1342, shifts the legal threshold for enforcement from unintentional feeding to knowingly leaving out food, garbage, or other attractants that could draw bears. This allows wildlife officers to issue citations immediately without a prior warning, and increases penalties for repeat offenders to a maximum of $5,000.
The legislation follows a surge in bear sightings and conflicts, with Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) logging over 6,100 reports of bear encounters by mid-August, surpassing last year's total. Drought, wildfires, and dwindling natural food sources have driven bears into residential areas in search of food. Colorado's new law reflects a broader nationwide trend where wildlife agencies are moving from educational campaigns to more enforceable regulations to prevent human-wildlife conflicts.
Other states, such as Florida, New Jersey, Alaska, California, Washington, and North Carolina, also have stringent laws against feeding bears, with penalties ranging from fines to felony charges. While some states, like Maine and Idaho, permit bear baiting for hunting purposes under regulated conditions, the overarching goal across these jurisdictions is to minimize attractants that lead to bears becoming habituated to human food sources, which can result in dangerous encounters and, in some cases, euthanasia.
Colorado's aim is to reduce the number of bears attracted to neighborhoods before they become a nuisance, especially as food shortages persist and bears enter their feeding season.
Written by urgent.news from Newsweek's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
