Lions and tigers? Decidedly not. But a bear problem in Woodstock Village — oh my, yes indeed.
The village trustees and rapt audience members listened intently on Tuesday evening as a game warden with the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department (VFWD) and a wildlife biologist with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) talked about the increased proliferation of bear encounters with humans in populated villages, towns and even urban areas throughout Vermont. And yes, here in Woodstock, smack dab in the middle of its vaunted, quintessential New England village setting.
The first busy day for bear activity in the village was Monday, June 15, when the Woodstock Police Department received a trio of phone calls regarding sightings of the stocky, furry, and often mischievous, if some say, adorable creatures. Two residents of the Mountain Avenue and River Street neighborhoods near the Woodstock Middle Bridge watched as a juvenile bear wandered onto their lawns and tried to get into their garbage cans — typical behavior as the ursine troublemakers transition from winter to spring to summer, coming out of hibernation and seeking copious amounts of food in order to pack more brawn on the bruin. The most common sources of food that attract bears are pet food, bird feeders, barbecue grills, garbage, household trash containers, open dumpsters, exposed compost piles, and campsites with accessible food and food waste. Later in the evening of June 15, circa 8 p.m., a third bear sighting was reported on Maple Street, about a half-mile jaunt from River Street through Woodstock Village.
Village trustee Jamie Fox recently brought the bear problem to the attention of his fellow board members after a steady stream of near-daily bear sightings in his Maple Street neighborhood over the past few weeks. Municipal manager Eric Duffy and the trustees reached out to state officials about the dilemma, and on Tuesday night Chris Floreani, the VFWD game warden for the Hartford District, which includes Woodstock, and Robert Acabbo, a wildlife biologist with the USDA’s Wildlife Services division in Vermont, made a presentation before the trustees and the assembled public. For the past two years, the VFWD and USDA have collaborated on a statewide human-bear conflict management program.
“It started in the fall of 2024,” Acabbo told the trustees and public regarding the state-federal collaboration. “We kind of got our feet under us, and then we really hit the ground running last year. It was a partnership between us and Vermont Fish and Wildlife to take some of the burden of the work off the wardens as well as the [VFWD] staff. Reports of bear incidents have gone through the roof in the last 10 years. The peak, I believe, was about 1,800 in 2021 or 2022 — and we’re currently sitting at about 1,500 reports a year. It was a lot for Fish and Wildlife to handle, so we created the partnership.”
Accabo directed listeners to a dedicated page on the VFWD website titled “Living with Black Bears,” https://vtfishandwildlife.com/learn-more/living-with-wildlife/living-with-black-bears, which includes a link for the public to report details of a bear sighting. The Fish and Wildlife website also offers abundant tips for homeowners contending with ursine visits to their property, which are almost always connected to mother bears and their cubs or other juvenile offspring hunting for food. Acabbo and Vermont game warden Floreani also warned homeowners and others that purposely feeding a bear is not just bad for the bear: it’s also illegal and will draw the wrath of VFWD enforcement authorities if they become aware of major or repeated transgressions.
A question-and-answer session with trustees and meeting attendees followed on the heels of the presentation by Acabbo and Floreani.
Woodstock residents should report bear sightings throughout the village and town to the Woodstock Village Police Department at (802) 457-1420. Bear incident reports can also be filed with the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department online at vtfishandwildlife.com/learn-more/living-with-wildlife/living-with-black-bears. Detailed information on how to better bear-proof your property is also available on the VFWD website. Chris Floreani, the VFWD game warden for the Hartford Patrol District, can be reached at (802) 279-4798.
For more on this, please see our July 16 edition of the Vermont Standard.
