Last fall, black bears roamed in Dolores in noticeable numbers, rummaging through trash cans, walking along Central Avenue and eating fruit from backyard trees. Facebook posts urged neighbors to “keep their head on a swivel,” and the sheriff warned residents to secure their trash as required under local ordinance.
Wildlife officials say this year’s conditions once again require precautions to limit conflict.
“With the lack of winter moisture and snowpack at both high and low elevations, we will really need a lot of spring moisture and to avoid a spring freeze if conditions have any chance of being good for our bears this year,” said John Livingston, Colorado Parks and Wildlife public information officer.
More spring moisture is needed for plant growth that provides crucial natural foods for bears. When natural food is abundant, bears are less likely to enter towns in search of human food.
“We are really going to need people to be diligent about securing trash and attractants around their homes to limit conflict as much as possible,” Livingston said.
Funding aimed at reducing bear–human conflicts is especially relevant after last year’s CPW bear report. Colorado Parks and Wildlife has opened applications for the $1 million Human-Bear Conflict Reduction Community Grant Program.
The program is open to tribes, counties, cities, towns, landowners, parks departments, businesses, nonprofits and universities. Applications close May 29.
Eligible projects discourage bears from entering high‑conflict areas or help reduce attractants. CPW aims to support proposals with strong local backing, detailed planning and innovative approaches.
Dolores received $27,078 for bear‑resistant trash containers during the first grant cycle. Last year, Mancos received $44,000 for containers on school campuses and for residents, along with twenty‑one other funded projects. Past projects include bear‑resistant trash cans, campground food lockers, electrical fencing for chicken coops and dumpster enclosures.
There are upward of 20,000 bears across Colorado, according to CPW, which said most conflicts involve access to human food. Black bears were widely reported in Dolores last fall.
CPW recorded 5,259 bear reports statewide in 2025, a slight increase from 2024 and the highest since 2019. Food availability heavily influences bear movement, which slowed this winter during denning and hibernation.
Livingston said calls increased partly because of weak yields from oak trees and chokecherries. Dry conditions push bears to lower elevations as food in the San Juans diminishes.
Last August, a man pleaded guilty in Dolores Municipal Court for shooting and killing a bear on Merritt Way. He accepted a plea deal reducing the charge to failing to secure trash in a bear‑resistant container and paid a $499 fine.
Sheriff Steve Nowlin told the town board last September that it was the busiest bear season in eleven years and cited six trash violations in one week.
Across CPW’s Area 15 – Montezuma, Archuleta, La Plata and Dolores counties – officials documented a second consecutive year of high levels of conflicts, with CPW and the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office responding through November.
“We had a lot of younger bears involved in the conflict early in the summer, and female bears with cubs that struggled to find natural food were also prevalent in residential areas,” Livingston said.
He said the rise in hobby chicken farming contributed to livestock–bear conflict and that road incidents involving bears continue to increase.
