MONTEZUMA - Many Central New Yorkers are familiar with black bears only by seeing them in movies, or while vacationing in the mountains. But that distance could be closing.

According to Deputy Refuge Manager Bill Stewart, who discussed his knowledge of black bears Sunday at the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, a bear living in the area isn't that far-fetched an idea.

Typically, black bears live in the heavily forested areas that surround mountainous terrain like the Adirondack Mountains, the Catskill Mountains, and the Allegheny region of Northern Pennsylvania. However, bears could be on the move.

"The Allegheny bear population is expanding, and the bears are spilling over into other states, such as New York," Stewart said. "The young male bears are wandering off to the North in search of food after hibernation."

Stewart discussed how these bears travel into new areas, and are finding food on what used to be farmland. The decreasing number of farms in the state is leading to vacated fields which are beginning to turn into young forests- the typical environment that a bear is used to living in. A bear was even spotted in Geneva last year, and others have been spotted in the lower half of the Finger Lakes region.

Even though this possible migration would take many years, Stewart had some safety tips for thos who could be confronted by a bear.

One of the best things to do is respect the bear, and give it space. Don't do anything to provoke the bear and try to avoid conflict.

"Bears have a natural instinct to avoid people," Stewart said. "There has only been one recorded death ever in New York state due to a black bear."

Another significant point that Stewart emphasized was never to feed the bears. While camping or vacationing, make sure to lock your food away and keep all garbage out of the bear's reach. Stewart fears that feeding the bears will make them more used to human interaction, and that's when things could turn dangerous.

"A fed bear is a dead bear," Stewart said. Not only will the bears become comfortable around humans, but they will also become dependent on being fed and find human food sources.