I had a good laugh with Department of Game and Inland Fisheries bear program manager Jaime Sajecki yesterday.

No, it wasn’t when I was looking at this shot, which I got this morning from frequent contributor Ralph Barton. (That’s a national forest bear.)

In short, I was offering my frustration (in jest) about having about 1,000 words in my story that ran today in The Roanoke Times to cover the 101-page draft of the 2012 Bear Management Plan. You see, the more I dug into the plan, the more interesting stuff I found. The history of bears in Virginia is, alone, worth the time to read the plan.

The plan is a must-read for all hunters, including for those who have no intentions of ever shooting a bear. For example, we all know that there has been some tension between the hound hunters and non-hound hunters, and this plan can really help clarify where both of those groups are coming from, and why they can peacefully coexist.

Even those who don’t hunt, but who live in bear country, should read it. Those nature lovers who live in the city but like to get out in the wilds to see wildlife? They should read it, too.

Click here to link to the plan. Again, it’s long. But it’s a quick read. (I use that line frequently with editors when I turn in stories that are too long!)

After you’ve had a chance to check it out (or even before), take a moment to offer a comment here about your thoughts on how bears are doing in Virginia, and what suggestions you might have about managing the species.