{"id":13084,"date":"2026-03-03T17:01:52","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T00:01:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cpw-opens-1m-grants-looking-to-reduce-bear-human-conflicts\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:34:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:34:54","slug":"cpw-opens-1m-grants-looking-to-reduce-bear-human-conflicts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cpw-opens-1m-grants-looking-to-reduce-bear-human-conflicts\/","title":{"rendered":"CPW opens $1M grants, looking to reduce bear-human conflicts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Black
Black bear hangs out in a tree. (Photo\/Colorado Parks and Wildlife)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

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 \u201ckeep their head on a swivel,\u201d and the sheriff warned residents to secure their trash as required under local ordinance.<\/p>\n

Wildlife officials say this year\u2019s conditions once again require precautions to limit conflict.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith 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,\u201d said John Livingston, Colorado Parks and Wildlife public information officer.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are really going to need people to be diligent about securing trash and attractants around their homes to limit conflict as much as possible,\u201d Livingston said.<\/p>\n

Funding aimed at reducing bear\u2013human conflicts is especially relevant after last year\u2019s CPW bear report. Colorado Parks and Wildlife has opened applications for the $1 million Human-Bear Conflict Reduction Community Grant Program.<\/p>\n

The program is open to tribes, counties, cities, towns, landowners, parks departments, businesses, nonprofits and universities. Applications close May 29.<\/p>\n

\"Bears
Bears rummage through residential trash. (Courtesy of Colorado Parks and Wildlife)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Eligibility for conflict-reduction grants<\/div>\n

Eligible projects discourage bears from entering high\u2011conflict areas or help reduce attractants. CPW aims to support proposals with strong local backing, detailed planning and innovative approaches.<\/p>\n

Dolores received $27,078 for bear\u2011resistant trash containers during the first grant cycle. Last year, Mancos received $44,000 for containers on school campuses and for residents, along with twenty\u2011one other funded projects. Past projects include bear\u2011resistant trash cans, campground food lockers, electrical fencing for chicken coops and dumpster enclosures.<\/p>\n

\"When
When food runs low, bears migrate toward sources generated by humans, including trash bins or bird feeders. (Courtesy of Colorado Parks and Wildlife)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Conflicts in 2025<\/div>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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\u2011resistant container and paid a $499 fine.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Across CPW\u2019s Area 15 \u2013 Montezuma, Archuleta, La Plata and Dolores counties \u2013 officials documented a second consecutive year of high levels of conflicts, with CPW and the Montezuma County Sheriff\u2019s Office responding through November.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe 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,\u201d Livingston said.<\/p>\n

He said the rise in hobby chicken farming contributed to livestock\u2013bear conflict and that road incidents involving bears continue to increase.<\/p>\n

\n

Crossing paths with a bear: How to stay safe<\/h4>\n

Colorado Parks and Wildlife encouraged people to call the agency if they spotted a bear. After 5 p.m., emergencies were routed to county dispatch. If a bear got into a home, residents were advised to dial 911 immediately. Runners and hikers were urged to skip earbuds so they could hear nearby animals. If people encountered a bear, they were told not to approach it. Instead, they should stop, give the animal space, make themselves look big and shout \u201cHey, bear!\u201d \u2013 but ensure the bear had an escape route. If the animal lingered, wildlife officials advised tossing pine cones or small rocks to haze it away without harm. Around homes and schools, residents were encouraged to use loud noises \u2013 clapping, banging pots or air horns \u2013 to keep bears from getting comfortable. People were also advised to learn warning signs: Grunts, jaw-popping or teeth-clicking meant they were too close and needed to back off. Source: Colorado Parks and Wildlife<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

awatson@the-journal.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

raises concern for this summer\u2019s conflicts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13085,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29,994],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-13084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter","tag-trueanthem"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13084"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13084\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18803,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13084\/revisions\/18803"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13084"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=13084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}