MIKE BRUCE: I WAS SITTING HAVING MY COFFEE READING THE DURANGO HERALD AND I LOOKED OVER MY SHOULDER AND I HAD HEARD MY TWO DOGS MAKE A LITTLE BIT OF NOISE AND I SAW WHAT I THOUGHT WAS A DOG'S HEAD COMING THROUGH THE FRONT DOOR OF BREAD. AND I DID A DOUBLE TAKE AND LOOKED OVER AND REALIZED IT LOOKED LIKE A TWO-YEAR-OLD BLACK BEAR, CINAMON COLORED, AND HE HAD BEEN ENTICED BY THE SMELLS OF THE BAKING AT FIVE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING. AND I WAS WEARING A BROWN CARHART JACKET AND BROWN JEANS, AND I DECIDED THAT IF THIS LITTLE CINAMON BEAR HAD GOTTEN INSIDE BREAD, HE PROBABLY WOULD HAVE GOTTEN VERY CONFUSED SO I DECIDED TO GET HIM TO STAY OUT OF BREAD BECAUSE THERE WAS A BIGGER BEAR INSIDE OF BREAD AT THAT TIME AND THAT BIGGER BEAR WAS ME.

KINSEE MORLAN: THE BEAR FELL FOR MIKE'S CHARADE AND ENDED UP LEAVING THE CAF AND BAKERY WITHOUT HARMING A SOUL, BUT THE POINT IS THAT BEARS DO WONDER DOWN FROM THE WILD EVERY NOW AND THEN. THANKS TO A WET SPRING,WHICH MADE FOR A GOOD NATURAL FOOD HARVEST UP IN THE HILLS, BEARS ARE WONDERING DOWN LESS THIS SEASON THAN IN YEARS PAST, BUT IT DOESN'T MEAN WE SHOULD BE ANY LESS AWARE.

JOE LEWANDOWSKI: THE BIGGEST THING WE ASK PEOPLE TO DO IS TAKE CARE OF THEIR GARBAGE.

KINSEE MORLAN: AS A SPOKESPERSON FOR COLORADO DIVISION OF WILDLIFE, IT'S PART OF JOE LEWANDOWSKI'S JOB TO REMIND PEOPLE ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF TAKING CARE OF THEIR TRASH. HE SAYS PEOPLE SHOULD REMEMBER TO EITHER KEEP BINS IN AN ENCLOSED AREA LIKE A GARAGE OR SHED UNTIL THE MORNING OF TRASH PICKUP, OR PURCHASE OR RENT A WILDLIFE RESISTANT TRASH CONTAINER FROM THE CITY. AND HE SAYS TO LOOK OUT FOR OTHER FOOD-RELATED THINGS, LIKE PET FOOD LEFT OUTSIDE OR SCRAPS STUCK TO A BARBECUE GRILL. IF THERE'S A FOOD SOURCE, REMINDS JOE, ANIMALS WILL FOLLOW.

JOE LEWANDOWSKI: ANIMALS FIND A WAY; IF THEY CAN SENSE SOME FOOD, THEY'LL FIND IT.

KINSEE MORLAN: BACK AT THE "BEAR SMART" PARTY, I TALKED TO DIANE MORIZON, A VOLUNTEER WHO HELPS OUT THE BEAR-AWARENESS ORGANIZATION BY VENTURING OUT INTO HER NEIGHBORHOOD OF DURANGO WEST TWO FROM TIME TO TIME AND LEAVING FAKE "BEAR SMART" CITATIONS ON TRASH CANS THAT HAVE BEEN LEFT OUT OVER NIGHT.

DIANE MORIZON: I'M DRIVING AROUND DURANGO WEST II AND I'M TAGGING THE CANS THAT ARE OUT AND THEN ONE CAN HAD ALREADY BEEN TIPPED OVER AND SO I THOUGHT, WELL, THIS BEAR COULD BE RIGHT HERE AND I PARKED MY CAR ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE TOWN. I LEFT MY DOOR OPEN, TURNED MY CAR RADIO UP REALLY LOUD AND I RAN OVER AND TAGGED THE DOWN CAN AND RAN BACK TO MY CAR BECAUSE YOU JUST NEVER KNOW, I'M INFRINGING ON A FOOD SOURCE.

KINSEE MORLAN: "TAGGING CANS" IS JUST ONE WAY BEAR SMART' GOES ABOUT ITS MISSION OF REDUCING HUMAN FOOD SOURCES THAT ATTRACT BEARS. OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS, THE CITY AND THE COUNTY HAVE PASSED LAWS AGAINST LEAVING TRASH OUT, AND WHILE THE WHOLE ENFORCEMENT PART OF THE LAW IS STILL BEING FIGURED OUT, BEAR SMART DIRECTOR BRYAN PETERSON SAYS HE'S SHIFTING HIS ORGANIZATION'S FOCUS FROM EDUCATION TO RESEARCH. HE JUST FEELS LIKE HE'S ALREADY HIT THE PUBLIC OVER THE HEAD WITH THE INFORMATION ABOUT HOW TO KEEP BEARS AND OTHER ANIMALS AWAY THAT, FOR NOW ANYWAY, IT'S MORE IMPORTANT FOR HIM TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE LOCAL BLACK BEAR'S NATURAL HABITATS AND BEHAVIORS.

THIS YEAR, FOR EXAMPLE, BRYAN HAS NOTED THAT A LOT OF THE BEAR SIGHTINGS HAVE INVOLVED YOUNG BEARS, WHICH SIGNALS A SERIOUS PROBLEM - IT SEEMS AS THOUGH DUMPSTER DIVING IS BECOMING A LEARNED BEHAVIOR.

BRYAN PETERSON: AND THAT'S WHAT WE'VE BEEN TELLING PEOPLE AND IT JUST DOESN'T SEEM TO BE GETTING THROUGH IS, THAT'S ONE OF THE BIG ISSUES, IS YOU'VE GOT FEMALES TEACHING CUBS AND NOW YOU'VE GOT THIS NEXT GENERATION OF BEARS THAT OBTAIN HUMAN FOOD SO, IT'S ONE THING TO HAVE A BEAR COME DOWN AND KNOCK DOWN YOUR BIRD FEEDER OR GET INTO TRASH, BUT A FEMALE WITH CUBS GETS INTO YOUR TRASH AND YOU'VE JUST STARTED THE NEXT GENERATION.

NAT SOUND: HIKING, DOG PANTING.

KINSEE MORLAN: ON A TRAIL OUTSIDE OF TOWN WITH HIS DOG TRIP' LEADING THE WAY, BRYAN PETERSON PUSHES HIS WAY THROUGH TALL GRASS AND BRUSH TOWARD A PLACE WHERE HE'S FOUND SKAT AND OTHER TRACES OF BEARS. BRYAN SPENDS HIS TIME OUT IN THE FIELD COLLECTING AND STUDYING SIGNS OF BEARS, PLUS LEARNING ABOUT THE BEAR'S NATURAL FOOD SOURCES.

BRYAN PETERSON: ACORNS ARE LOOKING GOOD, SERVICE BERRIES OUT, SQUAW APPLE'S OUT, SO

KINSEE MORLAN: SO THEORETICALLY THE BEARS WOULD STAY IN THE WILD, BUT ACCORDING TO BRYAN'S MONTHLY REPORT, THERE WERE 91 BEAR SIGHTINGS AND INCIDENTS IN THE COUNTY LAST MONTH ALONE. ABOUT HALF OF THOSE WERE TRASH-RELATED, BUT HE SAYS HE LEARNING MORE AND MORE ABOUT THE OTHER HALF OF THE REASONS BEARS ARE COMPELLED TO DROP INTO TOWN.

BRYAN PETERSON: BOTH THE CITY AND THE COUNTY LAWS ONLY DEAL WITH TRASH, SO THAT'S THE NEXT STEP IS DEALING WITH THE OTHER ATTRACTANTS LIKE BIRD FEEDERS AND PET FOOD AND COMPOST AND WHATNOT - FRUIT TREES. THEN IT GETS A LOT HARDER. THE WHOLE CHICKEN DEBATE HAS BROUGHT UP A REAL INTERESTING AND VITAL DISCUSSION ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY AND WILDLIFE AND DO WILDLIFE ISSUES TRUMP SUSTAINABILIYT ISSUES OR DO SUSTAINAIBLITY ISSUES TRUMP ALL WILDLIFE ISSUES. IT STARTED THIS GREAT COMMUNITY DIALOQUE THAT NEEDED TO HAPPEN AT SOME POINT. I WOULD LOVE TO RAISE CHICKENS MYSELF, I THINK THAT'D BE GREAT TO HAVE FRESH EGGS. IT'S JUST A QUESTION OF CAN YOU DO IN A WAY THAT WON'T ATTRACT ANIMALS?

KINSEE MORLAN: THAT'S A QUESTION BRYAN HAS YET TO ANSWER, SO, FOR NOW HE'LL CONTINUE HIS RESEARCH. NEXT MONTH, BY THE WAY, IS WHEN BRYAN SAYS THE BEARS START TO PREPARE FOR HIBERNATION BY COMING DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO PACK ON THOUSANDS OF CALORIES A DAY BY EATING ACCORNS AND WHATEVER OTHER HIGH-FAT FOODS THEY CAN FIND. HE SAYS IF YOU'VE BEEN PUTTING IT OFF, NOW IS A GOOD TIME TO GET THAT BEAR-RESISTANT TRASH CAN OR BUILD THAT EXTRA SHED. FOR KSUT PUBLIC RADIO, I'M KINSEE MORLAN.

DJ OUTRO: FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT BUYING OR RENTING THE WILDLIFE RESISTANT CANS OR ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW TO IMPROVE HUMAN AND WILDLIFE INTERACTIONS, CALL THE DIVISION OF WILDLIFE AT 247-0855 OR CONTACT BEAR SMART DURANGO ONLINE AT BEARSMARTDURANGO.ORG. © Copyright 2012, ksut