[Geysers] Firehole Bear Management Area - in NPS press release

[Seeyellowstone at aol.com]

I still believe that I see way more bears in the Northern Range than I do  in 
the Firehole BMA, this is just my 40 years of life experience in the  
Yellowstone area.  By closing things, you are not teaching people how to  live with 
bears.  I do believe there is enough volunteers out there, Id be  willing to 
bet that many of the geyser gazers would be willing to help monitor  bear 
activity.
 
In the Northern Range, the bear rangers and volunteers have taught the  
public over the last few years about bear etiquette, and no we see many of the  
wildlife watchers and wolf watchers policing themselves.  It is much better  to 
educate the public on how to react to bear sightings than it is to  have an 
uneducated public.  There is not enough bear rangers in the  Northern Range, 
however, every year people are getting a little better about  policing themselves, 
which means people get to see the bears from a safe  distance.  The park 
drums up about 20 volunteers for the elk rut in  Mammoth, I find it hard to 
believe they can't find that number for the Old  Faithful area in the couple of 
weeks the bear activity is at it's  greatest.
 
The bear numbers have exploded over the past ten years, likely because of  
the additional food provided by wolves.  As bear numbers continue to grow  does 
this mean we will have to close Yellowstone altogether?  
 
I do not believe the park keeps track of very many den sites of the bears,  
this would be an impossible task.  as for the carcasses, yes last year  there 
was a carcass pile placed at the entrance of Firehole Lake Drive, which  
attracted bears to the front country, a questionable move.  Firehole  Lake drive 
could of been easily plowed or a better location would have been the  Freight 
Road for a mile in, which would have attracted the bears away from the  road.  As 
of this date, and I have been at Fountain over 50 days this  winter, there 
are no carcasses anywhere near the boardwalk.  Also, the more  human activity in 
an area, the less likely there will be bear activity in the  area.  Sure 
bears may pass through from time to time, but it's Yellowstone  National Park, it 
happens.
 
I do not oppose the temporary closures of trails because there is a carcass  
in the area, that is just common sense.  But to close an area that has  never 
been closed in the park's history because a bear may pass through is  
ridiculous.  By closing these areas, encourages the bears to stick around  longer.  
 
This is just my 2 cents worth, being raised in the area.  Are there  any 
other geyser gazers out there willing to volunteer at bear jams with a can  of 
bear spray, a vest and the willingness to educate the visitors about the  bears 
as well as the geysers?  I bet we could come up with at least a  dozen 
volunteers.
 
Jim
YTG 
**************A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy 
steps! 
(http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1219850974x1201371016/aol?redir=http:%2F%2Fwww.freecreditreport.com%2Fpm%2Fdefault.aspx%3Fsc%3D668072%26hmpgID
%3D62%26bcd%3DfebemailfooterNO62)
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: </geyser-list/attachments/20090313/271dad43/attachment.html>