NORTHERN MICHIGAN (WPBN/WGTU) – The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is hoping to increase the amount of bear hunting licenses this year.
Last week, the DNR made the recommendation to increase the quota by 160 licenses throughout the state due to an increase in the black bear population.
The DNR believes there is about 12,000 black bears in Michigan and about 1,500 are harvested each year.
Because the population is increasing, the DNR says they’ve received more nuisances complaints and want to control that.
” We want a health population of bear, we want to keep that natural fear bears have of humans and we have some areas of the state where our bear numbers are affecting our residents, and we don’t want bear to be a nuisance,” said DNR Wildlife Technician Katie Keen.
Keen says they’ve been seeing the most complaints about bears in the northern Lower Peninsula.
The Natural Resource Department is expected to make a decision within the next month.
You can apply for a bear hunting licenses starting May 1.
Read the full recommendation: 339352676-Bear-Regulations
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