Be "bear aware" when visiting Glacier NP

National Parks Traveler reports that Glacier National Park officials are telling visitors to be more aware of bears.

Two bear cubs were hit and killed by vehicles and several campers and hikers have encountered bears this year.

One [of the bear cubs] was killed by a driver who immediately reported the incident. The other was found dead and had suffered injuries consist with being hit by a vehicle. Drivers are reminded to obey the park speed limits and drive with due regard for bears and other wildlife that may be on or near the roads.

Hikers and backpackers are particularly at risk of encountering bears under potentially dangerous circumstances. To minimize the risk of injury or death (and lethal consequences for the problem bears involved), all trail users are urged to heed the rules and guidelines pertaining to hiking and camping in bear country.

Read the full story: Glacier National Park Officials urge visitors to be "bear aware"

Photo from National Parks Service

Yellowstone grizzly bear mauling investigation

National Parks Traveler reports on the investigation into the death of the man mauled by a grizzly bear in Yellowstone National Park.

Erwin Frank Evert, a 70-year-old botanist, knowingly entered an area last week that warned people to stay away from a recently radio-collared grizzly bear. Evert was mauled by the bear and investigators are now trying to piece together the events.

“In 33 years or so of trapping in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem we’ve never had this situation before,” an understandably somber Chuck Schwartz, team leader of the state-federal bear study team, said Monday.

According to Chris Servheen, the long-time Grizzly Bear Recovery Coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the field biologists in this incident stayed with the 430-pound grizzly [after it was anesthetized and collared] until it began to stir, then left the area. About the same time, Mr. Evert was heading up the drainage that climbs into the Absaroka Mountains just about 7 miles east of Yellowstone.

“I cannot remember another incident where a grizzly bear that’s been handled has killed a person, recently after being handled," Dr. Servheen said Monday. "And we have captured thousands of grizzly bears and black bears using these same techniques. This is the first time its ever happened.”

The grizzly bear's new radio collar subsequently led wildlife agents to its location on Saturday where they shot and killed it from a helicopter.

Read the full story: Investigation launched into Yellowstone grizzly bear mauling

Photo from USGS

Guns vs grizzly bears - new federal law allows guns in national parks

The AP via USA Today reports on a new federal law that allows people to carry guns into national parks.

The law was focused on Second Amendment rights to bear arms as opposed to warding off attacking grizzly bears.

Proponents claim that the guns will help protect them against the advent of a bear attack. Park service biologists claim that guns and grizzlies together equal dead grizzlies and that less deadly methods to ward of bears should be used. Other park service workers say that only time will tell about the consequences of the new law.

Grizzlies are the undisputed bosses of the backcountry in [Grand Teton, Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks]. They've killed 10 people in Glacier and five in Yellowstone in the past century. Those parks average one grizzly attack with injuries a year. Grand Teton has had only a handful of attacks, and no deaths, but it's only had substantial numbers of grizzlies for the past decade or so.

Wyoming, Idaho and Montana are home to roughly 1,300 grizzlies. Their numbers have rebounded since the 1970s and, although grizzlies still are listed as a threatened species, it's no longer rare for one lolling roadside to jam up tourist traffic in Grand Teton, Yellowstone or Glacier.

Park rangers in [the three parks] are still telling visitors that a pressurized can of hot-pepper oil — bear spray — is their best defense.

Their reasoning? Studies show that in most cases, putting a cloud of bear spray in a grizzly's face works better than trying to stop a moving 400-pound animal with a perfectly placed bullet.

"You've got to be a really good shot with a gun," said Yellowstone bear biologist Kerry Gunther. "That's the beauty of bear spray. You don't really have to aim it. All you have to do is pull it and pull the trigger."

Read the full story: New law pits guns against grizzlies in national parks

Photo by David Grubbs / AP

No worries in Alaska's ANWR

The Washington Post reports on an epic-ish trip to "one of North America's last remaining wild expanses" - aka - Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). A trip that author Paula Stone worried about ahead of time incessantly and needlessly since the trip turned out to have beautiful weather. Dangers and annoyances like huge mosquitoes and bears were dealt with humor and awe respectively. And the experience and vistas were worth it:

"No amount of reading could have prepared me for the beauty of this treeless place. I kept kneeling on the tundra to inspect gorgeous wildflowers, grasses clinging to fragile soils, swelling berries and tiny spiders, while [my husband] clambered on the rocks. Overhead, chattering birds -- most of which had migrated thousands of miles to breed here -- raced the clock to raise their young during the short summer season. The vistas were enormous, stunning: a distant mountainside was awash in pink; another bloomed wispy white. We walked along ancient animal trails, over spongy tussocks, across shivery streams, in the wake of bear, wolf and caribou tracks. A rainbow halo encircled the sun."

Read the full story: No roads, no regrets

Bear attack reminds about nature's unpredictability

The LA Times had a gripping two part series about a father and daughter hiking team who were attacked by a grizzly bear in Glacier National Park. Experiencing nature is a wonderful thing but encountering wild animals can be hazardous. It's one of the ironies of ecotravel. Most who go explore nature appreciate and want to preserve it, but no matter how ecological one is, if wild animals deem you a threat, they will do what they can to protect themselves. This becomes more of a problem as people begin to encroach on wilderness areas and wild animals become used to people and find foraging in garbage is an easy way to get food.

Read the full story: A hike into horror