Bold Black Bears Prompt Food Storage Rule Proposal

An increase in bear encounters has prompted the U.S. Forest Service to consider clamping down on food storage rules for campers in parts of Western North Carolina. BPR's Helen Chickering has details. Hanging food from a tree is apparently no longer enough to keep away the black bears that live around two popular Western North Carolina camping spots Panthertown Valley , just outside of Cashiers in Jackson County and the portion of the Appalachian Trail that travels through North Carolina "They have just learned that it's real easy to climb a tree and hold a backpack down," says Nantahala District Wildlife Biologist Johnny Wills, who says that scene is happening more often in the two areas. Wills says once a bear connects with a food source it's a hard habit to break, which is why the Forest Service is proposing mandatory bear resistant containers for overnight campers in both areas. "We make that mandatory and everybody complies with it, we stand a pret5ty good chance of more bears