Black bears in East Texas: An historic background and public opinion survey concerning bear management in the Sulphur River bottom

The thesis was a study of the public opinion of the residents of six Northeast Texas counties (Bowie, Cass, Franklin, Morris, Titus, and Red River) concerning Ursus americanus luteolus, the Louisiana black bear. It also was a compilation of historical literature and analysis of the historic position of the black bear in East Texas culture. The thesis began by analyzing the literature concerning the historical place of the bear in East Texas and continued by determining the cause of its decline around the turn of the 20th century. Although loss of suitable bear habitat was somewhat to blame, the primary cause of the bear's demise was determined to be a shift in the local economy that led to aggressive and uncontrolled sport hunting to the point of extinction.; Survey related literature then was compiled and used to create a mailed survey which was sent beginning April 7, 2006. The survey results showed that the respondents were generally not knowledgeable about black bears. More than half of the respondents indicated that although they did like the idea of having bears return, they did not feel that it was necessary for the wildlife management agency, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, to re-stock the species. The respondents also worried about the problems that may arise from any migration.