Bear Management In Tennessee

Past, Present, & Future Use

Historically, black bears existed throughout the state of Tennessee. Dramatic land use changes resulted in the decline of black bear populations by the 1880's, with bears present only in the forested areas of the eastern part of the state. Further population declines occurred due to large scale logging and subsequent habitat destruction in the period from 1900 to 1930. Excessive hunting and trapping contributed to the decline, and by 1930 bears were present only in a few isolated areas of Tennessee, North Carolina and Georgia. With the establishment of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP), the Chattahoochee (GA), Pisgah (NC), Nantahala (NC), and Cherokee (TN) National Forests in the 1930's, it appeared that black bears would return to some of their former range as vegetation matured and wildlife was protected by state and federal agencies. However, the American chestnut blight became established in the 1940's, and significantly impacted the forests and wildlife resources of the Southern Appalachians. Bear populations apparently declined again.

Prior to the 1970's, there is a general paucity of reliable information on the status of bear populations in Tennessee. We do have records from bear hunting seasons starting in1951, and we also know that the season was closed after the 1969 season for 3 years, 1970-72, because of concerns over low bear populations. The year 1973 more or less marks the beginning of Tennessee’s modern era in black bear management. This is significant because the Agency got serious about its bear management program, with increased emphasis on research and monitoring, habitat protection, and enforcement of wildlife regulations.

In recent years, Tennessee's bear management program has focused on three primary issues: 1) enforcement of game laws to reduce the illegal kill; 2) protection of the female segment of the population, and; 3) efforts to minimize habitat degradation. Law enforcement has been a key component of the bear management program for a number of years. Bear gall bladders and other bear parts are highly sought after in the illegal wildlife trade market. Though black bear populations are in generally good shape in North America, the species was added to Appendix III of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1991, largely because of its "look alike nature" to Asian black bears, and the difficulty in distinguishing its parts from those of other bear species. It was hoped that the black bear's inclusion in CITES would help reduce the illegal trade of the Asian species of bears, whose numbers are in serious decline.

The protection of females from excessive hunting mortality is considered to be an important aspect of the overall bear management program. In 1973, 4 sanctuaries with no bear hunting were established on a total of 136,000 acres, with the purpose of creating nucleus areas of breeding females protected from hunting. In 1997, two new bear sanctuaries in the northeastern portion of Tennessee were added to the sanctuary system: Laurel Fork Bear Sanctuary (34,529 acres) and Kettlefoot Bear Sanctuary (39,190 acres). Including GSMNP (241,000 acres), where hunting is prohibited, there are a total of 450,413 acres of bear sanctuaries in Tennessee.

Protection of female bears from excessive hunting mortality was further enhanced in 1981 with the establishment of a late hunting season. This simple change in hunting strategy reduced the percentage of females in the harvest from 56% before 1981 to about 37%, even though the total harvest has increased substantially since 1981. However, since 1990, the percentage of females in the harvest has increased somewhat, to around 42% annually. There is concern about this increase, and the Agency plans to monitor the increasing female bear harvest over the next several years, and its potential impact on the population.

Habitat degradation is a more problematic issue, and certainly less understood. The forests of eastern Tennessee have changed over the last 60 years, from a system in which the American chestnut, a reliable mast producer, has been replaced by oaks, which are less reliable. The oak forests are maturing, with over 70% of the forests in the Southern Appalachians in mid- to late-successional stages (Southern Appalachian Assessment, 1996). Other issues which are of concern in relation to black bear habitat include hard mast availability, density of roads, and availability of denning habitat. To address these issues, the Agency has supported efforts to develop habitat models which can quantitatively monitor and measure the effects of changes in key habitat factors.