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.