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Black Bear Management Handbook for LOUISIANA, MISSISSIPPI, SOUTHERN ARKANSAS and EAST TEXAS Published By

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Black Bear Management Handbook for LOUISIANA, MISSISSIPPI, SOUTHERN ARKANSAS and EAST TEXAS Published By Black Bear Management Handbook for LOUISIANA, MISSISSIPPI, SOUTHERN ARKANSAS and EAST TEXAS Published by: Fourth Edition | March 2015 Special credit to the individual participants of the Black Bear Conservation Coalition Funding for this publication was provided by: Delta-Land Services Walton Family Foundation Apache Foundation Louisiana Forestry Association-Sustainable Forestry Initiative The Joe W. and Dorothy Dorsett Brown Foundation W.D. Chips Louisiana Chapter of the Society of American Foresters Louisiana Chapter of the Association of Consulting Foresters Black Bear Conservation Coalition P.O. Box 80442, Baton Rouge, LA 70898 225-400-9622 bbcc.org Design by VeniHarlan.com Table of Contents THE BLACK BEAR CONSERVATION COALTION ................................................................................................. 7 AGRICULTURAL CONSIDERATIONS .............................................................................................................. 43 EXCUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................................11 Conservation Program on Agricultural Lands ........................................................................................ 45 FOREWORD ................................................................................................................................................15 LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT: A COORDINATED APPROACH ............................................................................ 47 INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................................17 LIVING WITH BEARS ....................................................................................................................................51 Arkansas ............................................................................................................................................ 19 Bears in Your Neighborhood ................................................................................................................ 52 Louisiana ............................................................................................................................................ 19 Bears and Garbage .............................................................................................................................. 52 Mississippi ......................................................................................................................................... 21 Hunting in Bear Country ...................................................................................................................... 53 Texas ..................................................................................................................................................22 Bears and Deer Feeders ....................................................................................................................... 54 Bears and Campsites ........................................................................................................................... 55 BEAR ECOLOGY .......................................................................................................................................... 25 Bears and Beehives ............................................................................................................................. 57 Physical Description ............................................................................................................................ 25 Bears and Crops and Livestock ............................................................................................................. 57 Reproduction ...................................................................................................................................... 25 Bears and Roads ................................................................................................................................. 58 Denning/Hibernation ..........................................................................................................................26 Feeding Bears ..................................................................................................................................... 59 Movements ......................................................................................................................................... 27 Food Habits ........................................................................................................................................28 MANAGEMENT OF NUISANCE BEHAVIOR ..................................................................................................... 61 Habitat Requirements..........................................................................................................................30 Cooperative Management Approach ..................................................................................................... 63 Aversive Conditioning.......................................................................................................................... 63 MANAGEMENT OF FOREST HABITAT ............................................................................................................ 33 Encounters with Bears ......................................................................................................................... 65 General Forest Management Guidelines ............................................................................................... 33 Understanding Bear Behavior .............................................................................................................. 67 Forest Diversity ............................................................................................................................... 33 Interpreting Black Bear Communication ................................................................................................ 67 Streamside Management Zones ....................................................................................................... 33 Defensive Display of Dominance Behavior ............................................................................................69 Den Sites ........................................................................................................................................34 Roads ............................................................................................................................................. 35 INCENTIVE PROGRAMS ....................................................................................................................................71 Forest Openings .............................................................................................................................. 35 State & Federal Program Contacts ........................................................................................................ 73 Bottomland Hardwood Timber Management ......................................................................................... 35 Private Programs ................................................................................................................................. 77 Canebreak Management ......................................................................................................................38 Carbon Banking Opportunities ............................................................................................................. 79 Upland Pine Management .................................................................................................................... 39 CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................................. 81 Upland Mixed Pine/Hardwood Management ......................................................................................... 39 For more information ...........................................................................................................................83 Cypress/Tupelo Management ..............................................................................................................40 The Black Bear Conservation Coalition We feel strongly that working together, all partners, public and private, is key to the successful restoration and management of the Louisiana black bear. The Black Bear Conservation Committee (BBCC) was formed in the fall of 1990, shortly after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published its intent to list the Louisiana black bear (Ursus americanus luteolus) as threatened under the guidelines of the Endangered Species Act. Occurring at the height of the highly publicized controversy associated with the Northern spotted owl in the Pacific Northwest, there was a genuine fear that the bear’s listing could generate a similar conflict in the region. In an effort to avoid such controversy, and to avoid a litigious conflict Graphics Marshall Kate by Photo that would have no obvious winners, a group of progressive wildlife biologists met and formed a way in putting plans together to restore the bear to working group that became the BBCC. suitable habitat in its historic range in Louisiana, Mississippi, and east Texas. That initial meeting evolved to a very active, collaborative model that set out to reverse the The working groups wrote and had printed
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