They are lacking in large urban and agricultural areas. The total population probably is between 8,000 and 9,000. Habitat Bears inhabit wooded country. In the northeast, our state's other pocket of prime bruin habitat, bears favor brushy swamps with rhododendron, blueberry, and spruce, they also inhabit mixed hardwood forests, especially where underbrush is thick. Bears range over large areas.
Movement is affected by food availability, breeding activities and human disturbances.
Although bears show remarkable adaptability in living close to humans, their numbers decline as their habitat shrinks. Protecting suitable wild lands, especially those containing wetlands, is probably the single best habitat management tool.