Bear Group Policy on Feeding Bears:

Whereby the BEAR Group is the pioneer and most prominent organization for bear education;
 
Whereby BEAR Group members know that overdevelopment, habitat confiscation and fragmentation force the bears to live in close proximity to human environments;
 
Whereby BEAR Group members know that bear feeding, intentionally or unintentionally, is the primary attractant that lures bears into human environments, causes bears to become habituated to humans and causes human-bear interactions that put the bears at great risk for lethal removal;
 
Whereby BEAR Group members know that bears are wild animals that do not need food supplementation, that any food provided to bears by humans is unnatural, even if it is provided within the bears' natural habitat, that crop failures, (i.e. acorns), is nature's way to balance wildlife populations, that supplementing the bears' diet will result in a weight higher than would naturally occur which contributes to higher reproduction and thwarts nature's ability to limit the population, and that left alone, the bears self-regulate a population consistent with the natural foods in their habitat;

Whereby all members know that the BEAR Group lobbied hard for and publicly endorses the Black Bear Feeding Ban Law and its enforcement, 
 
Whereby all bear feedings, by anyone, anywhere, in any quantity is illegal and never innocuous and is directly contrary to our work for bear protection,
 
Whereby it is not the BEAR Group's responsibility to control members, monitor their activities on or off their property, to judge hearsay, humiliate, or to take a judicial role .....
 
Whereby, anyone engaging in feeding bears is doing it solely for their own purposes as bears do not benefit from food provided by humans. In communities where tolerance for bears is low, this can put bears at a greater risk for lethal removal;

Therefore, a BEAR Group member who  has been formally charged and fined with violations to the Black Bear Feeding Ban Law by a State official will have their membership revoked. The expelled member will not be permitted to participate in any BEAR Group function.

This policy has been approved by the Bear Group's board of directors and is in effect.