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Living With Black Bears – Wolf Trap National Park, February 1st

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Photo: Courtesy of the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, Black Bear and cubs
Sunday, February 1, 2026
11:00 am to Noon
Free
Presentation will be held Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts
“Black Bears: Cute and Curious…Learn about our local bears and how to safely co-exist with them.

Join Dr. Peter M. Mecca, Adjunct Professor, Educator, Scientist, and Fairfax Master Naturalist for a “Bare Facts” INDOOR presentation, in the beautifully renovated Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts Filene Center, on Living with Black Bears, an award-winning education and outreach initiative addressing human–bear interactions in Virginia, including locally in the DMV. This presentation is appropriate for all ages.

Gain an understanding of black bears, their behaviors and habitats, food sources, migration patterns and more. The session will offer practical, science-based strategies that can be used to reduce conflicts with black bears. Learn how to manage attractants and how to prevent interactions to help protect people, their pets, and other wildlife.

This project is a partnership between the Virginia Master Naturalist (VMN) program and the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR)and received the 2025 Outstanding Volunteer Project Award from the Alliance of Natural Resource Outreach and Service Programs (ANROSP). The award recognizes volunteer-led projects that advance natural resource management and public education. Evaluations from more than 80 presentations Statewide show that participants leave better informed and more likely to adopt bear-smart practices.

Cost: Free   For our staffing planning, please only register if you are certain you can make this event.

Meet: Presentation starts promptly at 11am.

Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts. Drive behind the Filene Center to park in Lot 1. Enter through the backstage entrance, which is on the Toll Roadside of the Filene Center building. Volunteers will guide you.

Please register through the Eventbrite posting so we have an accurate account of attendees for purposes of determining seating and volunteer support:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/living-with-black-bears-wolf-trap-national-park-tickets-1979685929908?aff=oddtdtcreator
Attendance at this event is eligible for one of Continuing Education credit.  Record completion in your Better Impact account as “All Continuing Education – National Park Service.”

Living with Black Bears Project Wins National Award!

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Alliance of Natural Resource Outreach and Service Programs (ANROSP) 2025 Award for Outstanding Volunteer Project Presented to Virginia Master Naturalist Program: Living with Black Bears in Virginia

The “Living with Black Bears” project, a partnership between VMN and the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, received the 2025 Outstanding Volunteer Project Award from the Alliance of Natural Resource Outreach and Service Programs (ANROSP). ANROSP is a professional organization for Master Naturalist-type programs, and the Virginia Master Naturalist program was one of the founding program members in 2006. The Outstanding Volunteer Project Award recognizes a volunteer service project that promotes natural resource management and provides natural resource education. The award was given in October at the 2025 ANROSP annual conference in Destin, Florida.

The Living with Black Bears project addresses the serious concern of human-bear conflicts in Virginia, aiming to alleviate negative interactions through spreading awareness and education. It also aims to strengthen the partnership between the VMN program and DWR by modeling how VMN volunteers can effective assist DWR in its mission. In the project, trained VMN volunteers give presentations and conduct outreach to share a common message about behaviors Virginians can adopt to reduce conflict with bears.

From when the project was piloted in 2022 through July 2025, VMN volunteers have given 70 presentations to community groups, tabled at 83 different community events, and made more than 53,000 direct contacts. Evaluation results from the sit-down presentations indicate that attendees are learning more about bears and plan to adopt some new behaviors, such as leashing their dogs and taking down their bird feeders when bears are active.

Congratulations to all the following VMN volunteers, Peter Mecca, Marilyn Parks, Sarah Mayhew, Jo Doumbia, and Gerald R Warren, who have been part of this project and to Courtney Hallacher of DWR, who coordinates the effort! If your chapter is not currently participating in the project and would like to, contact the VMN State Office.

Green Breakfast – Living with Black Bears in Virginia, March 11th

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Photo: Courtesy of the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, Black Bear and cubs

Saturday, March 11, 2023
9:00-10:30am

Virtual event
No registration is required.

This presentation, given by members of the Fairfax Chapter of the Virginia Master Naturalists, will provide general information on bear biology, local sightings, food sources & safety, and human/bear interactions & safety. Be sure to check out these flyers with bear-wise basics from the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources in English and Spanish. No registration is required, join on Microsoft Teams with this link. Questions may be directed to ConservationDistrict@fairfaxcounty.gov.

To receive updates about Green Breakfast speakers or join an upcoming virtual Green Breakfast, please register for the Green Breakfast newsletter. Please direct questions to NVSWCD.

You can view the Green Breakfast YouTube playlist here.