Over the past few weeks, the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee have been the backdrop for several encounters between bears and humans. These incidents have sparked an important question: "Are there any laws prohibiting people from feeding bears in Tennessee?"
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) provides a straightforward answer: there are no statewide laws against feeding bears.
“The only bear legislation that we enforce is in the city of Gatlinburg. There is a TWRA proclamation that says you can’t intentionally or knowingly feed black bears or leave food or trash in a way that would intentionally or knowingly feed black bears,” explained TWRA spokesperson Matt Cameron. “TWRA can enforce that law and it applies to the entire corporate city limits of Gatlinburg.”
The penalty for violating this proclamation in Gatlinburg is a $50 fine, along with nearly $200 in court costs. This law, however, is only enforceable within the corporate city limits of Gatlinburg. State Representative Jeremy Faison (R-Cosby) believes this needs to change.
“When bears are comfortable being around humans, you’ve got all sorts of issues,” Faison stated. “If we want to save our bear population, if we want to ensure people don’t get mauled to death, we need to eliminate interactions with bears. Observing them from a distance is fine, but feeding them is crazy.”
Faison has been in discussions with the TWRA about potential measures to curb these interactions. One idea he floated was implementing stricter penalties.