COEUR d'ALENE (AP) - The U.S. Forest Service is putting new rules in place Tuesday that prohibit feeding deer and require the use of bear-resistant containers in parts of a national forest that include eastern Washington state, North Idaho and northwestern Montana.

The rules are an effort to prevent conflicts with bears and other animals, officials said. Visitors to the popular Priest Lake, and backcountry explorers in the Selkirk and Cabinet mountains, will be required to store and dispose food in a "bear-resistant manner."

"The Priest Lake area has a high density of people, recreation and wildlife, which increases the odds for wildlife conflicts," said Jason Kirchner, Forest Service spokesman in Coeur d'Alene. "Bears are among the most dangerous animals, but other wildlife can be problems, too, if they're lured by food. We have a huge issue with people feeding deer in the Sam Owen Campground.

A woman was treated at a hospital after being raked by a buck's antlers and having her legs gored in the past week, Kirchner said. Wildlife experts speculated the deer might have been habituated to humans through feeding or even raised as a pet and lost its fear of humans.

The new rules apply to the Priest Lake, Sandpoint and Bonners Ferry ranger districts of the Panhandle National Forests, and will be in effect each year from April 1 to Dec. 1. Kirchner said similar rules already exist in the Colville, Kootenai and Lolo national forests.

He said the agency will see how the rules work in those northern parts of the Panhandle National Forests before applying them farther south to the Coeur d'Alene and St. Joe ranger districts.

"We're planning on installing more lockers in areas such as Kalispell Island (on Priest Lake) to make it easier to keep food stored properly," Kirchner said.

Besides prohibiting the feeding of wildlife, the rules will also prohibit in certain areas putting up bird feeders where they could attract bears.

The agency will also designate bear-resistant garbage containers in some areas. New rules in the backcountry will also apply, with hunters required to move wildlife carcasses at least 200 yards from a designated national forest trail and at least half a mile from a camping area.

Livestock deaths, which can attract bears, must be reported within 24 hours, or 48 hours in more remote areas.