In Harlan, a city of about 1,100, Mayor Joe Meadors said bear sightings have gone from occasional to near-constant. The animals are drawn to garbage and have been spotted near schools, the library and throughout neighborhoods, sometimes requiring police to chase them off at night.

“Right now, the bear population is plumb out of sorts,” Meadors said. “They’ve just gotten out of hand because the population’s kind of been unchecked for a while.”

Meadors said he doesn’t view bears as villains, but he joined other local elected officials in calling for action after a friend’s child was frightened by a protective mother bear with three cubs about a month ago.

Bell County Judge-Executive Albey Brock said the frequency of human-bear interactions is “flirting” with the potential for a “horrific encounter.”

“We have to put enough pressure on the bear that they stay in the remote woods,” Brock said, adding that he does not want to eradicate the species. “They’ve got a natural instinct to be fearful, but it’s not strong enough. It will not override a stale box of Little Debbie’s that got thrown in the garbage.”

Black bears are generally shy and solitary, and attacks on humans are exceedingly rare. In 2010, a hiker in the Red River Gorge was involved in what officials believed was the first bear attack in Kentucky in modern history. In September, Kentucky State Police said a trooper shot and killed a bear in Harlan County after it lunged at him inside an elementary school’s field house.

The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources considers the return of black bears to the region over the past two decades a “true wildlife success story” after the animals were essentially wiped out in the 1800s by logging and settlement.

But Larry Cornett, president of the Kentucky Bear Hunting Association, said “problem bears” that have learned to rely on garbage for food pose a hazard.

“When a bear gets to where it’s not scared of humans, it’s a potential hazard,” Cornett said. He supports expanding hunting opportunities.

Chuck Meade, chair of the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission, said expanding bear hunting is a priority and will be the next topic for a commission subcommittee. Ideas under consideration include a spring bear season, longer hunting seasons and more youth hunting opportunities in overpopulated areas. About eight states have spring bear seasons, all in the West.

Earlier this year, the commission approved a smaller expansion by extending days when hunters can train dogs to chase bears and adding a short youth season. Meade said that has not alleviated complaints about nuisance bears.

The number of bears killed by hunters has risen sharply, from 46 in 2015 to more than 200 in both 2024 and 2025. A lobbyist with an animal welfare group has raised concerns that the state’s “increasingly permissive” regulations could destabilize the population.

Meade acknowledged the need for balance.

“There’s a fine line of cohabitation,” he said. “If we’re overpopulated now and we don’t do anything, how much more overpopulated are we going to be next year?”

Both Meadors and Brock said hunting alone is not enough and that better trash management and containment are also needed.