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Discussed quite extensively in May 2004.
http://www.leerburg.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=147;t=000995

They are a very independent dog and are not suitable for 'personal protection' unless you are often threated by Russian black bears. That is pretty much their sole function and desire.

yes, Ive seen a few here in Montana. A guy across the street has one in his backyard all the time. I saw a lady out hiking with her bear dog and she said they are kind of independent spirits, so I dont know how that would work out in dog sports like schutzhund, but I dont, is that a desirable trait in pp?

Their is a program here in Montana where they use them to teach bears to not go in areas where humans frequent i.e. parts of national parks. They use to capture bears in cages when people would report the bears, but they found that just capturing the bear and relocating did not seem to scare them too much... the bears would go back to the spot and would get captured again(the bears did not associate the free meal in the cage with a awful bad experience), so they started letting the karelian bear dogs loose on them soon after they would relocate them... the bears started associating the dogs with a bad experience and avoid the areas that they were getting captured, ultimately avoiding areas of parks where humans frequent. Lowers the possibility of bear attacks on humans.

I think they generally release them in pairs or groups, so its not like one dog to a bear and if the bear can escape the dogs it will. Typically I think wild animals prefer avoidance over confrontation. People use hounds to hunt mountain lions here too, but you dont see them in PP or dog sports too much. Mountain lions usually prefer the avoidance method to confrontation as well... When hunters catch up with their dogs, the mountain lion is typically treed with the dogs yapping at the bottom. I suppose it is still pretty ballsy for the dogs on the occasions the lions and bears choose confrontation.... I know dogs that hog hunt get pretty messed up on occasion.