After the bear was killed, Christophersen said, his office received several calls from people in the canyon who were upset about the incident. He said one non-hunter even called to say that he felt deprived of the chance to enjoy the animal in its natural habitat because of his neighbor's actions and the DWR's response.

"We're protecting the wildlife for everybody's benefit and enjoyment," Christophersen said. "You obviously have people up there living, and when you have a bear that becomes unafraid of humans, that's not a good thing,"

The DWR has declined to identify the man who it says was feeding the bear.

"What we really want to reinforce is, 'What were you thinking? This is not a good practice because it puts people's lives in jeopardy,"' Christophersen said.

Wildlife officials are reviewing the case with the Uintah County Attorney's Office to determine whether the property owner could face criminal charges.

Christophersen said in the wake of the June 2006 bear attack in American Fork Canyon that claimed the life of 11-year-old Samuel Ives, the DWR has been dealing regularly with "bear incidents and problems," some caused by people intentionally feeding bears.

He said visitors to the outdoors should watch for illegal bait sites, which typically consist of mounds of dog food, garbage pails full of bacon grease, pastries, or excessive piles of animal carcasses, and that lack the signs required by state- or federally issued bear hunting permits.

"If they see a refuse site like I've described and there's no sign around it, there's a very good indication that it's illegal, and we need to know about it," Christophersen said.

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E-mail: geoff@ubstandard.com