Article written by Tara Campbell
Originally published by ABC 7 News, 21 November 2025
After a tense summer of bear break-ins in South Lake Tahoe, wildlife advocates say it's time for a new approach to try and keep both its beloved black bears and people safe.
"What we'd like to do is make the City of South Lake Tahoe a city where bears would be given some rights," Ann Bryant, the Bear League Executive Director.
Next month, the nonprofit plans to present a proposal to the city council to designate South Lake Tahoe as a sanctuary city for bears.
The move comes as one video after the next surfaces of bears getting into everything from trash to homes and vehicles. This summer, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife clashed with residents trying to protect a mama bear and her cub, affectionately known as 'Hope' and 'Bounce,' after officials announced plans to euthanize Hope, citing several break-in attempts.
"So what we're thinking is, people would need to do a little bit more to avoid having a problem in the first place. And there are many things they can do, and the Bear League helps them with that. And so does the Department of Wildlife, and so does the police," said Bryant, noting bringing those entities together is the key to the sanctuary city proposal.
"Then instead of just the Department of Wildlife being the only agency or the only group that says, okay, he has to die, then we have a governing board and we sit down and we look at this practically. And what did the bear do, and what did the people do to avoid it? And what can be done to avoid it happening again? And then we decide together, kind of like a trial, in effect, you know, we give the bear a fair shake."
The Department of Fish and Wildlife says it's committed to supporting a thriving black bear population and will continue prioritizing non-lethal methods of control.
