SANDPOINT — A bear is wandering in your direction. What do you do?

Your fruit trees are packed with apples and you're trying your hand at raising chickens for the eggs and beehives for the honey. Is your property protected from bears wandering in to help themselves?

If you attend the annual North Idaho Bear Fair this fall, you'd be armed with the information you need to keep you, your property — and the bears — safe.

The tools offered at the free event are invaluable, organizers of the annual event said.

If you live in North Idaho, you live in bear country, plain and simple, said Shelby Therrian, wildlife division manager for the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho.

The region is home to both black and grizzly bears, and living and recreating safely in their midst requires intentionality and specific training and skills. The annual North Idaho Bear Fair offers area residents a chance to both learn those skills and put them into practice.

The event includes bear spray training using inert bear spray canisters on Fish and Game's remote-controlled charging grizzly bear. In addition, participants will learn the basics of how to protect livestock, chicken coops, animals and beehives with electric fencing, and have the chance to use a large press to make fresh cider with their apples. The fair will also offer information about a livestock carcass pickup program, a collaboration between Fish and Game and the Office of Species Conservation, and camping safety in bear country as well as a host of other helpful information.

While held in Boundary County its first two years, this year's event will be held at the Bonner County Fairgrounds on Sept. 27. The hope is that by moving the fair to different locations, more people will be able to attend, from Bonners Ferry to Coeur d'Alene. The hope is that by expanding the fair's footprint by moving the location, as many people as possible can take part in the bear safety training.

Bears are common in the region, with black and grizzly bears reported from Bonners Ferry to Priest Lake to Coeur d'Alene, making bear safety training important for everyone in the region, fair organizers said.

"The main thing is to reduce human conflict with not just grizzly bears and black bears but bears in general," said Therrian. "We all need to know to safely recreate in the backcountry and, most importantly, reduce bear conflict."

Those skills include everything from knowing how to use bear spray properly to how to fence off your chicken coops to gleaning your apples after they ripen instead of letting them fall.

"We need to coexist with bears in general in North Idaho," Therrian said. "So how do we do that safely so that it's good for humans and bears?"

Many people are surprised that they might share their favorite huckleberry spot with a bear or two or that bears might find their chicken a tasty snack. Knowing how to respond in each situation is key.

"If you're huckleberry picking, for example, it's awareness and practicing being out in the backcountry and being prepared," Therrian said. "Having bear spray and knowing how to use it is important."

Area residents can also boost their bear awareness on their property by eliminating food attractants, such as chicken feed or dog food left on a porch, trash left in an easy-for-a-bear-to-open garbage can, or a chicken coop that lacks an electric fence.

"You want to make sure your properties are ready so that if a bear does come by, you're protected and hopefully it deters the bear away on the first try," Therrian said.

The event is a partnership between the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, Idaho's Governor's Office of Species Conservation, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of Agriculture, and the Kootenai Valley Resource Initiative.

All recognize the importance of bear safety and learning to coexist with the wildlife that calls North Idaho home as well, Therrian said.

"We want to see these bears thrive and we want to coexist as we grow as a community up here," Therrian said. "We just need to learn to work together and realize it's their home, too."

    A cider press is pictured in action at the 2024 North Idaho Bear Fair.