Generated over 2,200 volunteer hours (labor equivalent of $94,500)
Drove 5,686 miles for mission support
Distributed over 8,000 educational brochures, 4,000 children’s placemats, 5,000+ BearWise® Outdoor Safety cards & bulletins to key target audience
Leveraging opportunities with partners, guest speaking, and governmental bodies, Gerald Hodge spoke to 2,284 humans
Reacted to and gathered scientific data from thirty-six (36) Vehicle-Bear Mortalities (VBM’s) and three (3) poached Black Bears
+ Ten (10) of these VBM’s were accounted for because of our caring followers reporting them to us with a photograph and location.
+ We reported three (3) additional VBM’s to Tennessee (2) and North Carolina (1) that were reported by caring followers traveling through those states.
Social, Legacy, and Digital Media
Developed & deployed a digital marketing campaign that reached 187,300 humans, + 37.3% over 2023, with an above industry engagement rate of 8.65%.
Reached 44,592 humans through specific targeting in high-risk human-bear conflict neighborhoods, up 34.5% from 2024.
Routinely writes newspaper and magazine articles and news releases in support of educating 23,400 humans on coexisting with Black Bears.
Guest appeared on WGOW 102.3 Chattanooga Talk Radio with a 20,000 human morning audience.
2023 Key Accomplishments
Drove 4,246 miles for mission support
Distributed over 7,000 educational brochures, 4,000 children’s placemats, 5,000+ BearWise® Outdoor Safety cards & bulletins to key target audiences
Developed & deployed a digital marketing campaign that reached 144,265 humans
Reached 38,000 humans through specific targeting in high-risk Human-Bear conflict neighborhoods
Reacted to and gathered scientific data from nine (9) Black Bear Vehicle-Bear Mortalities
Gerald Hodge spoke to 2,089 humans face-to-face
2022 Key Accomplishments
Generated over 2,200 volunteer hours (labor equivalent of $94,500)
Drove 4,400 miles for mission support (+45% from 2021)
Distributed over 7,000 educational brochures, 4,000 children’s placemats, and several thousand BearWise® bulletins to key target audiences
Over 2,578 individual briefings (+61% from 2021)
Developed & deployed a digital marketing campaign that reached 172,730 humans (+150% from 2021)
Reached 85,000 humans through specific targeting in high–risk human-bear conflict neighborhoods (+254% from 2021)
Reacted to and gathered scientific data from 19 Black Bear roadkill
Founder & CEO spoke to a worldwide audience when he was chosen to present an academic poster and speak to the 6th International Human–Bear Conflict Workshop
2021 Key Accomplishments
Generated over 2,000 volunteer hours (labor equivalent of $85,941)
Nearly 3,000 miles driven
Distributed over 7,000 educational brochures, 4,000 children’s placemats, 3,000 door hangers, and thousands of BearWise® bulletins to key target audiences
Over 1,600 individual briefings
Developed & successfully deployed a digital marketing campaign
Reached nearly 30K people through specific targeting in high-risk Human-Bear conflict neighborhoods
Volunteered as part of the USFS’s portion of the 2021 Black Bear Bait Station Survey.
2020 Key Accomplishments
Established our partnership with FindOutdoors
Coached a community on actions to keep three Cubs from being orphaned while Mom was foraging
2019 Key Accomplishments
Georgia Department of Transportations (GDOT) Bear Crossing signs on Georgia Highway 515 in the Wildlife Mobility Corridor between Ellijay and Blue Ridge, Georgia.
Community BearWise® signs in the Cherry Log Mountain subdivision.
