Black Bear Comeback Proves Hunters Remain Essential to American Conservation
I recently posted a blog covering the black bear conservation successes seen in Florida. The state has now had a successful bear hunting season, despite anti-hunting, anti-science animal activist shenanigans.
I want to expand on that topic. A recent wave of attention is being given to the expanding black bear populations in Southern states. It is because of hunters and shooters. It is a truth that can’t be ignored: Black bear recovery from coast-to-coast is the product of decades of habitat work, science-based wildlife management, regulated hunting, public education and the funding stream hunters and firearm and ammunition manufacturers provide.
That matters. Conservation success breeds new challenges. As populations expand, so does natural range. More communities have bears. More nuisance complaints. More pressure on state wildlife agencies to respond. The question is not “should they be managed?” They are. The question is whether lawmakers and opinion leaders recognize the conservation model that made this recovery possible or will they undermine the hunters, sportsmen and firearm owners who make this possible.
Recovery Does Not Happen on Its Own
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Wildlife Restoration Program, authorized by the Pittman-Robertson Act in 1937, provides the grant funds to state wildlife agencies. Those fund wildlife and habitat restoration, management, public access, research, hunter education and shooting range development and operation. The agency describes it as the nation’s oldest and most successful wildlife restoration program. It is the American System of Conservation Funding, which is the envy of the world.
Those funds do not come from the general public. They are the excise taxes paid by firearm, ammunition and archery manufacturers and importers. USFWS recently announced nearly $1.3 billion in excise taxes to be delivered to state conservation and wildlife access programs this year. Over $804 million of that is directly sourced to firearm and ammunition manufacturers and importers. Those companies are the core financial drivers of conservation funding.
That funding model delivers in the real world. It supports population surveys, habitat work, public access, conflict-response programs and hunter education. It also gives agencies the data they need to make decisions on balancing wildlife population protections and harvest rates as a management tool. Critics who dismiss hunting, or who treat the firearm and ammunition industry as disconnected from conservation, harm the foundation needed to restore species like black bear.
10 States Showing Black Bear Success
In addition to Florida, many other states are seeing successes with their state-led programs to manage black bear populations. The efforts should be highlighted. This is what successful conservation and wildlife management looks like.
West Virginia
West Virginia showed strong outcomes: nuisance complaints have fallen 55 percent, damage claims dropped 26 percent and non-hunting bear mortalities declined 19 percent from 2023 to 2024 while the state boasts a robust black bear population.
New Hampshire
New Hampshire’s 2024 Big Game Management Plan put the black bear population at 6,100 in 2024, a 13 percent increase over 2014.
Tennessee
Tennessee’s recent reporting points to steady, management-driven growth. A 2025 state transportation research report, citing Tennessee wildlife data, says collaborative management efforts produced a 1.2 mean annual growth rate – roughly 20 percent annual growth over the study period.
Connecticut
Connecticut’s The State of the Bear public brief and 2025 bear report show a population that is growing and spreading. The state now estimates 1,000-1,200 bears, says the population is “increasing and expanding.” They report breeding evidence in more than 89 towns in 2024. It’s important to note that Connecticut doesn’t have a regulated bear hunting season but state biologists have pressed the legislature that one is needed to manage this growth.
Virginia
Virginia’s strongest official metric is range. In a 2025 Department of Wildlife Resources article, the state said bears, once low across most of Virginia, are regularly found in almost all areas of the state with the exception of far eastern counties and the Eastern Shore.
North Carolina
North Carolina’s comeback remains one of the strongest in the East. Black bears were once restricted to remote areas in low numbers. Ranges expanded from 5,000 square miles in 1971 to over 30,000 square miles by 2010. Today they occupy 60 percent of North Carolina’s total land area.
Missouri
Missouri’s current numbers show a major rebound. In its 2024 annual report, the Missouri Department of Conservation said the state’s bear population grew from an estimated 300 bears in 2012 to about 998 in 2024, with an eight percent annual growth rate.
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania’s numbers show some of the largest long-term gains in the East. The Pennsylvania Game Commission estimated 19,211 bears in 2024, up from 8,252 in 1992. These numbers are in a high, sustainable range.
Arkansas
Arkansas has a strong black bear recovery story from a near loss to a fully restored huntable population. Black bears were overhunted to bear extinction by the 1930s, due to habitat loss and overhunting without the benefit of modern wildlife management programs. Now the state has more than 5,000 bears thanks to its Black Bear Restoration Program.
What Comes Next
For lawmakers and wildlife lovers the takeaways are straightforward. America wants thriving wildlife populations, healthy habitat and credible management of species recovery. That means protecting the hunter-supported conservation system that delivers those results. When science, habitat work and hunter investment come together, wildlife flourishes. Black bears are proof.
These states are doing it right. They show what can be accomplished when outdoor, hunting and shooting community members all partner to manage wildlife populations. Hunters are America’s original conservationists. They are the critical element in keeping wildlife populations robust, healthy and in balance with safe communities and vibrant ecosystems.
