COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho -- The U.S. Forest Service put new rules in place Tuesday that prohibit feeding deer and require the use of bear-resistant containers in parts of a national forest that include eastern Washington, northern Idaho and northwestern Montana.

The rules are an effort to prevent conflicts with bears and other animals, officials said. Visitors to the popular Priest Lake, and backcountry explorers in the Selkirk and Cabinet mountains, will be required to store and dispose food in a "bear-resistant manner."

"The Priest Lake area has a high density of people, recreation and wildlife, which increases the odds for wildlife conflicts," said Jason Kirchner, Forest Service spokesman in Coeur d'Alene. "Bears are among the most dangerous animals, but other wildlife can be problems, too, if they're lured by food. We have a huge issue with people feeding deer in the Sam Owens Campground.

A woman was treated at a hospital after being raked by a buck's antlers and having her legs gored in the past week, Kirchner said. Wildlife experts speculated the deer might have been habituated to humans through feeding or even raised as a pet and lost its fear of humans.

The Spokesman-Review reported that the new rules apply to the Priest Lake, Sandpoint and Bonners Ferry ranger districts of the Panhandle National Forests, and will be in effect each year from April 1 to Dec. 1.

Kirchner said similar rules already exist in the Colville, Kootenai and Lolo national forests.