Fish and Game Urges Teton Valley to Call Early About Problem Bears

DRIGGS — Idaho Fish and Game regional wildlife manager Eric Freeman told Teton County commissioners Monday that most of the valley's bear conflicts are preventable, and that problem bears reported early generally end better.

Commissioners invited Fish and Game after a Driggs resident used the open mic at their Sept. 14 meeting to ask whether the county could help find "a positive solution there that doesn't look like just killing bears all the time." Freeman, who manages human-wildlife conflict for the agency's Upper Snake Region, joined Monday's meeting remotely.

Fish and Game has euthanized seven black bears in Teton Valley this year and three more elsewhere in eastern Idaho, and it has relocated five. When Commission Chair Brad Wolfe asked whether conflicts had doubled or tripled, Freeman answered, "Far in excess of double and triple." By Freeman's count, the agency has euthanized as many black bears this year as in the previous five years combined. Across the region it has taken about 100 calls so far, where 20 would be normal, "maybe five x," Freeman estimated. The Teton County Sheriff's Office has fielded more than 40 calls about black bears.

Fish and Game can't be certain why the bears came down this year, Freeman said, but it has two likely explanations. The first is food: "For the most part, there's very few berries on the hill this year." Twenty days in March brought highs above the 90th percentile for the valley and started the growing season early, and a hard freeze in mid-June probably killed the fruit blossoms. "Lack of snowfall, overall mild winter conditions are certainly contributing," Freeman said. Some states have removed hundreds of bears in what Freeman called "a west-wide phenomenon," and there is "certainly a possibility that this could become a new normal."

The second is the valley's growth. "We're putting a bunch more people on the landscape and a bunch more houses on the landscape," Freeman told the board. "There probably is going to be more conflict as a result of that." His map of about 50 calls about problem bears from county residents reached past the river corridors and into higher-density neighborhoods. "The reality is that all of Teton County is bear country." In some weeks Fish and Game has had five traps set in the valley, with three wildlife biologists spending much of their time tending them and talking with residents.

Commissioner Ron James asked what leads the agency to euthanize a bear. A bear breaking into a house is "maybe like a one-strike deal," Freeman said, and several of this year's bears had gotten into homes or screened porches. One that Fish and Game tried to catch had broken into a car and eaten the groceries inside. A bear that has fed on garbage for a week or more is hard to relocate, because "trash is high reward stuff for a bear" and it goes looking for more wherever it is moved. Aggression toward people, such as charging, is the third trigger.

This summer Fish and Game has heard of "individuals or neighborhoods that are maybe reluctant to call us about problem bears" for fear the agency will euthanize them. "Unfortunately, this behavior likely has the opposite effect," Freeman said. Waiting can let a bear "get past the point of no return" before the agency can clear up attractants or move the animal.

"The vast majority of black bear conflicts that we respond to, they begin with unsecured attractants," Freeman said. Commissioner Dan Powers asked whether the most important step was getting people to store garbage and other attractants more securely. "I do think that that's the case," Freeman answered, recommending bear-resistant trash cans, kept inside a garage or shed where possible, and securing fruit trees, compost piles and gardens. In Island Park, "where nearly every residence has bear-resistant trash cans," there have been fewer conflicts, though Freeman called the comparison anecdotal. Freeman also credited Teton Valley Bear Wise and RAD, the valley's trash service, with working to get more of the cans to residents. "I think it's $12 more a month is my understanding," Freeman said of the cost, adding that RAD may have run out for a time and is getting more.

Asked whether Fish and Game had "any kind of a feeding program for the bear or something like they do the elk," Freeman said the agency has considered it and concluded "the risks outweigh the rewards." Bears guard food caches and turn more aggressive around them, and a feeding site would draw more bears into one place in a valley that borders grizzly habitat.

A resident whose family has lived in the valley for generations told commissioners, "A few weeks ago, I had a bear kill one of my turkeys, and I don't blame the bear." The resident called this year "an anomaly," adding, "The last time we had to have a bear trapped on our place was 25 years ago," and urged the board not to "make extra requirements on people that will last forever over a problem that probably will not happen again after this year." The resident proposed a social media campaign on storing garbage cans in sheds instead.

"I don't think we were here today to make orders," Wolfe replied. "It just was mostly to have people be aware and know what they can do to help mitigate their situation on their own."

Freeman closed by thanking the board. "I think we hope that we don't see another year like this in the near future," Freeman said. "It's abnormal."

Sources

• Teton County Board of Commissioners, Sept. 14, 2026 (video)