The First Thing You Can Do To Advocate For Black Bears Is To Report Possible Hunting Violations, Poachers, People Feeding Black Bears, And Road-Kill!
If you are aware or suspect poaching or feeding of Black Bears, call the Georgia DNR Call the Ranger Hotline at 1-800-241-4113 (or *DNR for AT&T Mobility Customers) seven days a week, 24 hours a day.
- Please provide a contact number so the Game Warden can contact you if more information is needed;
- Please provide the county in which the violation occurred in;
- All information is strictly confidential, and you can remain anonymous; and,
- We are not local or state law enforcement.
- If you have an emergency, dial 911.
Black Bear Road-Kill. Also, report Black Bear road-kill to your local Sheriff’s Department. If the road-kill is on the road, report it on the Emergency number due to the fact it poses an immediate traffic hazard. If the road-kill is out of the road, report it on the Non-Emergency number. Reporting road-kill helps the Georgia DNR track and assess the Black Bear population and allows them to factor those numbers into the overall population management model.
Appalachia Georgia Friends of the Bears represents and speaks for a creation that cannot speak for themselves, Ursus Americanus, the American Black Bear! We intend to influence decisions to reduce Human-Black Bear conflict across the government, public, and private sphere by leveraging public policy, laws, and budgets via proactive education, media campaigns, public speaking, direct appeal, and research.
Our organization is partisan politics-free and wish to remain so. Everyone has personal and political values and beliefs, however, we have to work with other people, institutions, legislators, and businesses that may or may not hold the same values that we may personally hold. The battle for the Black Bears will be challenging enough without someone adding an incendiary topic into the mix. When speaking with others in person or in correspondence, we ask you to be polite, courteous, concise, and articulate.
We will provide “Talking Points” when it comes to interacting with the city, county, and state officials. These talking points will be based on facts, observations, and political realities. We appreciate public support, however, when it comes to speaking for the Appalachia Georgia Friends of the Bears, the Founder is the spokesperson for position and policy for the organization, period. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.
The foremost strategic message that we will always present are the “Be BearWise” Basic rules:
- Never feed or approach bears;
- Do not store food, garbage, or recyclables in areas accessible to bears;
- Do not feed birds or other wildlife where bears are active;
- Feed outdoor pets a portion size that will be completely consumed during each meal and securely store pet foods;
- Keep grills and smokers clean and stored in a secure area when not in use; and,
- Talk to family and neighbors about any bear activity when it occurs in your area.
Because of the number of Georgia Municipalities, Counties, and Federal agencies and because of the frequency of turnover, contact with them in regards to Black Bears will be handled on a case-by-case basis and points of contact will be identified when required.