ASHEVILLE – The town of Biltmore Forest passed a law against feeding wildlife after police responded to a call where residents were “actively feeding bears,” according to a commission agenda packet.
The town ordinance was unanimously passed during the Sept. 9 Board of Commissioners meeting, according to Jonathan Kanipe, the town’s manager. During the month before, the police department was called to a Biltmore Forest home where residents were actively feeding bears, according to the meeting’s agenda. When they reviewed the Town Code, there was no direct language outlawing the behavior, the agenda said.
The police department received a call that residents were “basically feeding the bears daily” and the bears were walking through a neighbor’s yard to reach the food, Chief Chris Beddingfield told the Citizen Times Oct. 8. Over the years, Beddingfield said they have seen residents feed wildlife both directly and indirectly. The department’s first step is to meet the action with education, informing the neighbors about how feeding bears is dangerous for both people and the bears, he said.
This time, people were intentionally putting food out for the bears to eat for a “significant period of time,” Beddingfield said. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission gave the department guidance and advice, and Beddingfield brought the concerns up the “chain of command” to the elected officials, who wanted a form of regulation against the activity.
Three municipalities in Western North Carolina have enacted similar prohibitions on feeding wild animals, including the city of Asheville, the town of Highlands and Buncombe County. Biltmore Forest — a 2.9 square-mile town of about 1,300 people — used language “taken liberally” from Asheville’s existing ordinance, the agenda said.
Although Biltmore Forest is within Buncombe County, the county’s ordinance is not applicable in the town’s jurisdiction, unless the town passes a resolution specifically adopting it, according to county spokesperson Lillian Govus.
A Biltmore Forest police vehicle.
The town’s new ordinance outlaws the “keeping, possession, harboring, feeding or attracting of wild or feral animals,” including bears. The ordinance says that attracting bears or wild animals creates the potential for human injury or death, an increased risk of disease transmission between animals and people, or a heightened potential for death or injury to the bears, livestock or companion animals, such as dogs.
It also stipulates that keeping a bird feeder or feeding birds is allowed, unless it becomes an attractant for other wildlife and the resident is asked to stop by a police or code enforcement officer.
Anyone found to have violated this code could be subject to a civil penalty, according to state law. The desired outcome is to stop residents from feeding bears, but if the action continued and police had to issue a civil fine, they could do so at a maximum amount of $50, according to Kanipe.
“The Town has had very few instances of this occurring, but we felt compelled to have something in our ordinances allowing us to specifically cite individuals, if necessary,” Kanipe said via email.
Kanipe said this is mostly because there is no state law prohibiting the feeding of bears. If there were, police would have been able to enforce state law without the town crafting its own ordinance, he said.
Beddingfield said the police department is not “on a mission” to fine people but this gives them another preventative measure to protect the animals, residents and their property.
Biltmore Forest Town Hall at 355 Vanderbilt Road.
The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, the state’s outdoor regulatory agency, endorses prohibiting wildlife feeding of any kind when it causes property damage, a human safety threat, or increased risk of disease transfer among wildlife, according to Ashley Hobbs, a special projects biologist.
Black bears are generally shy and non-aggressive towards humans, according to the NCWRC. If frequently fed, however, bears can become dependent on human food sources. This dependency may lead to bears becoming bolder, which can prove dangerous as the animals may begin to approach people or even attempt to enter homes.
BearWise.org provides guidance and sample ordinances for communities who are looking to adopt language locally.
More: More bear-resistant trash carts coming to Asheville as black bears gear up for spring
BearWise safety tips
Black bears are particularly active from May to August, according to the National Park Service.
However, in late summer and into the fall season, hyperphagia means that the animals travel extensively beyond home ranges, sometimes searching for food for up to 20 hours per day, according to a recent wildlife commission news release.
More: Asheville resident fatally shoots black bear in self-defense, wildlife commission says
At least 1,900 black bears are estimated to live in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, with 14,500 of the iconic mammals residing in the larger mountain region covering parts of North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and South Carolina.
Because of this, the commission sees an increase in reports of black bears in public and residential areas, particularly during dawn and dusk hours when bears are most active. Roadways are one area where bears are commonly reported.
The commission advises residents follow the BearWise Basics:
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Never feed or approach bears.
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Secure food, garbage and recycling.
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Remove bird feeders when bears are active.
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Never leave pet food outdoors.
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Clean and store grills and smokers.
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Alert neighbors to bear activity.
To learn more about co-existing with bears in bear country, visit BearWise.org and call NCWRC’s Wildlife Helpline for assistance at 866-318-2401 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday to Friday.
More: Great Smoky Mountains National Park reports increased ‘dangerous’ bear feeding by visitors
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Ryley Ober is the Public Safety Reporter for Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at rober@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter @ryleyober
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Biltmore Forest enacts new law to keep residents from feeding bears
