LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — With its luxury vacation homes dotted through alpine forests, its tens of thousands of tourists, and its huge concentration of the species Ursus americanus — has long been at the center of California's human-bear conflicts.

Bears stroll out of the woods and across crowded beaches to snatch food from coolers. They sneak into ice-cream stores, smash through car windows and break into houses, trashing kitchens. Often, they go viral on Instagram and TikTok in the process.

They have become as much a part of Lake Tahoe lore as lazy afternoons by the water or starlit evenings under mountain peaks. And so too have the fights about what to do about problem bears — with some activists accusing the California Department of Fish and Wildlife of being too quick to euthanize naugh

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