2026 has been a year filled with news stories about bears across the American West. In Utah alone, bear conflicts are happening four times more than the average, as drought conditions have pushed bears out of the wildlands into communities of the state. Hearing about bear encounters triggers human fascination. We believe it also provides an opportunity to educate and inform the public about how to keep bears and humans safe.

Two years ago this month, Wildlife Walls teamed up with The Vital Ground Foundation to install a monumental wildlife mural on Heber’s Main Street celebrating the town's local animal celebrity, actor and conservation ambassador Bart the Bear. We hosted a Bart the Bear Film Festival with Bart movie screenings and the incredible stories from Bart’s trainers and Vital Ground's co-founders, Doug and Lynne Seus.

With all the attention on bears this year, we’re taking the opportunity on the two-year anniversary of the Bart Film Festival to celebrate Utah’s Bears. Join us on November 18th at 6pm at the Avon Theater in Heber to celebrate and learn about Utah’s bears. Featuring the stories of Doug and Lynne and friends, we’ll also be screening Bart outtakes and a screening of the Bart movie “Without a Paddle”. We’re also excited to use this opportunity to  host a conversation with bear conflict experts working across the West on best practices and methods for proven conflict prevention strategies each of us can adopt to keep bears and humans safe.

This event is made possible through support from Wildlife Walls, Vital Ground, Doug and Lynne Seus, Heber City,  Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, WildAware Utah, Heather Reich from Bearier Solutions, Tom Smith from BYU Life Sciences, Body and Soul Studios, and Heber Valley Entertainment.