Question from a bear noob. What kind of trees are we talking about other than the just-mentioned Douglas fir? Will bear or any animals do this to cedar?
Seems the majority prefer fir, but hemlock, spruce and cedar get it from time to time. The trees that seem to get hit hard are the firs that are about 12 inches in diameter. Firs drop the lower branches sooner than the others. When you find a stand of reprod you'll notice you can see through the firs better. Kind of leaves the trunks more easily accessible to the bears (though a bear will tear up anything to get to food). Also with the low branches why you can find deer/grouse holed up a little more in hemlocks. When the trees start getting a little bigger than 12 inches the bears start climbing more and you might see the upper peels...some bears even peel vertically.
It seems they like to stick to conifers, but I've heard they tear up alder on occasion (probably leave it because they know the elk and blacktails like to tear it up so much

). Never seen/heard of them eating maples, but it would seem like that would be the tree of choice because of the sap and how much they like maple stuff (syrup/pastries/bacon).