Black bears are waking up around Steamboat Springs.

“I think we got bears up now for the summer; it’s going to be 60 degrees tomorrow,” Keep Bears Wild – Steamboat lead educator Christy Bubenheim said on Monday.

Bubenheim posted on the Keep Bears Wild – Steamboat group on Facebook that two different bear sightings occurred last week, one on Steamboat Boulevard near Fish Creek in Steamboat and another bear seen twice in the Steamboat II neighborhood in Routt County about three miles west of city limits. The educator encouraged all area homeowners to take actions right away so that bears do not receive a human-food reward and continue to come back to unsecured attractants and locations.

Early March through Thanksgiving is now the standard season to be bear aware in Routt County, Bubenheim said, noting the first reported bear sighting in 2025 came on March 2. In 2024, the first sighting was reported March 5.

Trash cans should be stored inside locked garages or sheds. If a bear-resistant trash can must be stored outside, the lid should click into the locked position after each opening and the can should be strapped down to a sturdy post or fence. Trash customers should call their waste provider to order new, updated or repaired trash containers that are bear resistant, experts advise.

Educators warn now is the time for all homeowners and businesses owners to be diligent about putting away any and all attractants ranging from grills to dog food to bird seed. Dogs should be kept on leashes during walks. Property owners should make sure no smelly trash mistakenly goes into recycling bins.

Bubenheim predicted this year may see expanded issues with bears getting into contaminated recycling bins within Steamboat as well as increased conflicts outside of city limits where there is no Routt County ordinance requiring bear-resistant trash containers.

A bear gets into an unsecured bird feeder on a deck in Colorado in summer 2024.Colorado Parks and Wildlife/Courtesy photo

With the greater Steamboat area providing good bear habitat, Bubenheim said it is time for people to up their game to scare away bears with different sounds not used in the past. Setting off vehicle alarms safely from within a home is a good choice as well as having an inexpensive air horn handy.

“It’s just such great bear habitat throughout Steamboat and Routt County, so we need to make sure all the attractants are secured and make sure we are making the bears feel uncomfortable by safely scaring them away,” said Bubenheim, who has been tracking local bear activity for 18 years.

The educator said some residents may see a bear in their neighborhood and think of it as a “one-off” incident unlikely to reoccur — but that hope is misguided.

“If bears learn that your neighborhood or community is a good place to get high-calorie food, we can almost guarantee the bear or bears will come back to that area if they continue to get a food reward,” Bubenheim said.

The educator said bears wake up slowly in the spring and eat roughage such as grasses and branches to get their digestive system moving.

“Most conflicts between people and bears can be traced to human food, garbage, pet food, bird seed or other attractants,” according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. “When people, intentionally or unintentionally, leave food out for bears to find, a bear’s natural drive to eat can overcome its wariness of humans. By educating yourself and your neighbors, humans can live responsibly with bears.”

A February media release from CPW cited 5,299 reports of sightings and conflicts with bears statewide in 2025, a figure 15% higher than the previous six years, with trash continuing to be the top source of conflict. The months of July and August showed the highest numbers of conflicts statewide.

A city of Steamboat Springs ordinance outlines restrictions on bird feeders between April 15 and Nov. 15. All feeders must be removed at night or suspended on a cable or other device so that they are inaccessible to bears and other wildlife. The area below feeders must be kept free of the accumulation of seed debris or other edible materials.

Any group that would like to request a Keep Bears Wild free educational presentation can contact BearAwareSbt@gmail.com or visit Facebook.com/Groups/KeepBearsWild.

A bear investigates an outside freezer on a porch in summer 2024 in Colorado.Colorado Parks and Wildlife/Courtesy photo