Karen Chávez

kchavez@gannett.com

ASHEVILLE - The Elisha Mitchell Audubon Society will host Nature Conservancy biologist and bear expert Adam Warwick in a presentation on the ecology of black bears at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 20 at the Reuter Center at UNC Asheville.

Warwick will discuss results of research on local bears and the interface between black bears and humans in Western North Carolina.

The black bear has made a significant recovery in population and range in the last four decades. Today, there are about 15,000 bears in the state, occupying about 60 percent of the state's total land area. Bear sightings are becoming increasingly common across WNC and Asheville as bear populations grow, and as they expand their search for food and space.

Human-provided foods are becoming a greater proportion of bears' diets while their natural food sources are declining. Warwick will talk about how forest health and management impacts bear populations. He will also share insights into The Nature Conservancy's efforts to restore fire to the Southern Blue Ridge landscape and how that helps reduce the bear-human conflict.

He might also discuss his dramatic rescue of a drowning bear.

Warwick is the Southern Blue Ridge Stewardship Manager for the Nature Conservancy. He focuses on habitat restoration issues including supervising controlled burns, restoring mountain bogs, and addressing forest health issues. He has a degree in zoology from the University of Tennessee and a masters in fisheries and wildlife science from the University of Missouri.

All EMAS programs are free and open to the public.