North Carolina's wildlife agency doesn't often use emergency rules. On Thursday, it deployed one to address Buncombe County's bear problem.
The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission approved a rule banning the feeding of black bears in the county, whether on purpose or by leaving out unsecured trash and pet food.
"Emergency rules are reserved for serious and unforeseen threats to public health or safety," Carrie Ruhlman, the commission's policy manager, said in a news release.
The commission said the rule is not meant to ban bird feeding or the use of legal bait for regulated hunting, unless either creates a threat to human safety or causes property damage.
Asheville and Buncombe County already have ordinances banning bear feeding. According to the commission, the state rule would add criminal penalties and give state wildlife officers enforcement authority to do so when needed. Officers may issue warnings or citations depending on the circumstances, said Maj. Chad Arnold of the commission. "The goal is not punishment, but prevention," he said.
The rule still needs final approval from the state Office of Administrative Hearings, a required step for emergency rules.
A people problem, officials say
Buncombe County accounts for more than 40% of the human-bear interactions reported to the commission statewide, mostly in Asheville, Black Mountain and Swannanoa.
From May through September, the state commission received 836 reports of bear activity in the county, including 71 reports of a bear inside a home. Five pets were killed by bears, two pets were injured and two residents were reported injured. The commission also said 72% of forced home entries by bears reported statewide in the past three years happened in Buncombe County.
Pressure building for weeks
The rule comes after weeks of growing concern from local officials and residents.
At a Sept. 15 briefing for Buncombe County commissioners, Ashley Hobbs, the commission's statewide BearWise coordinator urged the county to push more residents to use bear-resistant trash cans. The county's solid waste director said only a small fraction of residential garbage customers in unincorporated Buncombe County use them.
A week later, residents urged Asheville City Council to take broader steps to prevent conflicts between people and bears. Council took no action.
Those concerns followed an Aug. 18 incident in which a bear came through an unlocked door into a North Asheville home and injured a woman inside. The commission says the same bear has since forced its way into nine other homes.
The commission initially planned to euthanize that bear, which supporters named Dolly, but they backed off that plan amid a public campaign to save her.
Public comment to come
Emergency rules don't allow public input, but the NCWRC Commission is filing an identical temporary rule that includes a public comment period and a hearing. The commission says it will announce details early next week at ncwildlife.gov/proposedregulations.
