Black bears are emerging from winter dens across Colorado, and wildlife officials are encouraging residents to lock up garbage, remove bird feeders and eliminate other food sources before the animals learn that people mean easy meals. At the same time, the Colorado legislators on Tuesday passed a bill dubbed “Negligently Luring Bears” that would make it easier to cite people whose negligent behavior lures bears and would raise fines for repeat offenders to $5,000. Colorado Parks and Wildlife has logged 98 reports of bear activity in 22 counties so far this year, compared with 127 reports in the same period last year. Numbers are expected to climb as more bears, especially family groups, leave their dens in the coming weeks. “Every time a bear gets food from or near humans, whether from a bird feeder, a hummingbird feeder, or trash, it teaches the bear that people equal food,” said Tim Kroening, area wildlife manager for the Colorado Springs area, in a news release.…