I think the first step is to take an interest and get as much local knowledge as you can of the bears in your area. Get your information from people that work in the woods, especially those that study bears for a living, but even local hunters and guides (tempered with some objectivity). Older woodsmen are very good sources of information.

Here is a very good source of information from Ontario...
http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/Bearwise/index.html

It includes educational material used in schools.
http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/Bearwise/2ColumnSubPage/196968.html

This is what I used as a local source of information on bears where I hike. I found it interesting because it discusses the impact such things as parks and apple trees and bear bait stations. We have a Spring Hunt and a Fall Hunt. Done properly, I think bear hunting changes the demographics to keep the woods safer, as it has here since Indian times. Done improperly, commercial interests, and trophy hunting, can pervert nature and make bears and the woods more dangerous. The truth lies somewhere in the middle. The past is no guarantee of the future.
http://www.unbf.ca/forestry/centers/cwru/soe/bear1.htm