MARQUETTE -- Some new black bear population figures had members of the Citizens Advisory Council talking at their meeting Monday night in Marquette.
At the annual joint meeting of Michigan Department of Natural Resources eastern and western U.P. Citizen's Advisory Council, the public, along with council members, saw a presentation on the current state of black bears in the U.P. The advisory group learned, based on recent data, the population has gone down contrary to what was previously thought using data from 2007.
"Research is showing that we've actually had a decline in the bear population all across the U.P., so now it will be up to the Natural Resources Commission to decide how they want to go about the license quotas for the next couple years," said Debbie Munson Badini of the DNR.
The DNR estimates between 12,000 and 15,000 bears live in Michigan, and about 80-90 percent of the state's bear population is in the U.P.
The council also saw a presentation on the budget for the DNR and how it distributes its funds annually
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