You know, if every bear "outside" the Big South Fork was considered legal game during the regular deer season, there would likely remain a viable bear population going in the Big South Fork.
There's good reason why many large predators were very purposely eliminated or reduced in numbers from Tennessee and Kentucky over 100 years ago: Many large predators generally don't mix well with humans on a day-to-day basis, and that includes the humans in rural areas.
Call me crazy, but I'm perfectly fine with no bears outside BSF, and only a few within. They are not endangered, and we have a surplus for your viewing pleasure in the Smokies. Outside a few uninhabited by humans areas, I believe it's a mistake to be purposefully building up and expanding bear populations. Just allow hunters to take them incidentally outside places like BSF, and hopefully these bears will retain some natural fear of man.
I realize there's more reason not to re-introduce some other large animals which once freely roamed across Kentucky & Tennessee, but it's only to a little lesser degree of problems to people that bears are being re-introduced, while we're not re-introducing free-roaming bison and timber wolves. There's a place for all these, but "protected" to free-roam private property even in say Cumberland or Fentress Counties?
Kudos to the KDFWR for their proposal.
