For more background on feeding, I thought Michael Olson did a good job on this 42-minute interview https://www.bearstudy.org/publications/videos/3946-should-rogers-feed-bears-interview-by-radio-host-michael-olson.html
Chloe nursing 7-13-21 by Alex Hoar
I’ve never seen so many bears in this area—bears we never saw before. From what I’ve heard, diversionary feeders kept them mostly out of trouble. Yes, more were seen by people, but I haven’t heard of any real trouble other than people complaining about sightings in the new housing development where they spoke at the Eagles Nest Board of Supervisors Meeting, where Representative Rob Ecklund was recruiting people from that development to testify before the legislature against feeding. In actuality, the diversionary feeders did a great job in keeping these hungry bears from becoming more of a problem than simply being seen. If it wasn’t for the feeding to keep these bears out of trouble, it would have been a slaughter. Instead, we got to see Chloe successfully raising her cubs instead of losing them as is the fate of many cubs in years of scarce food. Minnesota is trying to bring back the population after seeing it dwindle by 50% due to overharvest in past years. Feeding in such a year as this helps reduce mortality.
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center