RENO -- From the Department of Wildlife in Reno to the law enforcement agencies throughout the Sierra, telephones have been their busiest ever with people calling in about a common problem -- bears.

"I cannot emphasize enough the seriousness of this problem," wildlife department staff biologist Carl Lackey said. "We need people to use bear-proof garbage cans, and restrict other human food sources for bears."

Lackey said it's a record year, not only for the number of bear calls, but for the number of bears that have had to be euthanized as well. "It's the bears that pay the price when people don't take care of their garbage," Lackey said.

The department's Reno area dispatchers have received an average of 15 to 40 bear calls a day since early June, when dry conditions, lack of natural forage and availability of human foods started bringing black bears into urban areas.

Sgt. Carl Barnett of the Incline Village substation at Lake Tahoe's north shore said his office is averaging 12 to 15 bear-related calls a day. Eighty percent of those calls result in actual bear sightings, he said.

Last week’s slaying of a 660-pound black bear has turned a summer full of bear sightings in Incline Village into a more serious matter.

"Let's hope we never have someone injured or killed and that's what starts people to care and be more aware," Lackey said. "Then people will be scrambling for a bear-proof container only because someone had to get hurt."

It also has been a record year for bears killed on highways, according to Ann Bryant, executive director of the BEAR league based at Lake Tahoe. She said at least 21 bears have been killed by cars this year, surpassing the precious record of 19 set in 2005.

She said her group has been receiving 150-200 calls a day, compared to about 50 two years ago. The Tahoe Basin has the second highest density of black bears in North America, with several bears per square mile at times, according to the Department of Wildlife.

The bears are protected by state law, which makes it illegal to shoot one unless a person or livestock is being immediately threatened.

"Seeing a bear tipping over garbage cans and drinking out of a horse tank is not an imminent threat," Lackey said. "I simply cannot respond to these lower priority calls. In fact, do not even call us if it is simply an issue of bears and trash. Be responsible and use bear-resistant containers and the bear will disappear."

This year's lack of moisture has dried up streams and reduced the yield of berries and other natural foods, Lackey said.

"The drought drives them out of their natural forage areas into neighborhoods along the Sierra front, where the pickings are good," he said. "The animals are very tolerant of humans, and very adaptable to urban environments, and then we are feeding them in our backyards.

"Basically, homeowners are attracting birds with bird feeders, deer with ornamental shrubs, and coyotes with little pets and pet food. This in turn attracts the larger predators like mountain lions and bears. People have made their backyards better habitat than the wildlife can find anywhere else."

Some residents in the Virginia City Highlands south of Reno have threatened to shoot a bear that is getting into garbage there, but according to Lackey, "The solution is so much simpler; don’t allow the bear access to your trash and he will leave all on his own.

"This is a human problem, not a bear problem."