Mountain Residents Please Sign Below...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Pine Mountain Club Residents & Surrounding Frazier Mountain Community,

Our community is facing an urgent and escalating threat from black bear intrusions, which have caused significant property damage and pose serious safety risks. Despite efforts to tag and monitor these bears, practical actions have yet to be taken to resolve the issue. Attached is a letter addressed to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), demanding immediate and decisive action. Please send this letter to the CDFW to amplify our collective voice and ensure our concerns are heard and addressed. Together, we can advocate for the safety and well-being of our community.

 

 

 

Range map of American black bear (Ursus americanus) from IUCN (2019)

Black Bear Population By State

 

Subject: Immediate Action Required for Black Bear Intrusions in Pine Mountain Club

Dear CDFW Representative:

I am writing to demand immediate and decisive action regarding the escalating black bear intrusions in Pine Mountain Club. In 2023, there were over 600 reported bear intrusions in Pine Mountain Club. This year so far, up to mid-July, we are at roughly 100. The damage to homes is soaring well into the hundreds of thousands. Black bears in our area are breaking windows and sliding glass doors, tearing off solid wood, and front doors, destroying garage doors, and once inside, wreaking havoc on home interiors, destroying appliances, cupboards, and more. Even more alarming are the three house fires that were started by bears walking across stovetops and turning on the burners. Given the dry forest where we live, the potential for a devastating wildfire is a constant and immediate threat.

 

Our community has taken extensive, proactive steps to mitigate these encounters, including reinforcing our homes, locking our vehicles, actively and aggresively hazing bears, ensuring glass windows and doors are covered with opaque coverings, and avoiding attractants around our properties. However, these measures have proven insufficient in deterring the bears' persistent behavior.

While we acknowledge CDFW’s ongoing efforts to tag and collar problem bears, these measures are not stopping the repeat behavior of our habituated bears. These tagged bears continue to pose nightly threats to our residents and are actively teaching their cubs how to perpetuate their destructive behavior, creating a growing problem that expands exponentially with each new generation. This situation has led to homeowners losing their insurance or being unable to file claims for fear of losing coverage. Many have resorted to extreme measures such as installing electrical wires, bear unwelcome mats, and boarding up doors and windows with plywood, yet the problem continues to escalate.

The residents of Pine Mountain Club demand that the CDFW takes the following actions immediately:

1. Promptly relocate, if possible, or dispatch the habituated bears in our area that have been identified as repeat home invaders.

2. Work with the district attorney and our POA staff to exercise swift and serious punitive consequences for those in our community unwilling to stop feeding the bears, either directly or indirectly, thereby contributing to this ongoing crisis for our community.

3. Support our ongoing efforts as a community to put an end to this bear crisis by working closely with a wildlife task force formed to continue education and action in all areas of peaceful wildlife cohabitation.

The situation in Pine Mountain Club is untenable and dangerous. It is within the mandate of the CDFW to protect the wildlife and the people of California. Without decisive action, it is only a matter of time before a severe injury, death or a catastrophic wildfire will occur.

Thank you for your immediate attention to this critical issue.

Sincerely,

 

California Department of Fish & Wildlife​

Newsweek Article on Black Bears Across the US