Grizzly Tracks At Popular Island Park, Idaho Hiking Trail
Posted by Tom Remington on September 11, 2007
I just received this short note along with a photo from good friend Eric in Idaho Falls, Idaho.
My mom went hiking Sept. 7 at a popular hiking trail in Island Park called Targhee Creek Trail. She took the following photo of grizzly tracks in the dirt. It’s sad that grizzlies are taking over popular hiking areas. By the way, I know people in Ashton, Idaho, who have had grizzly encounters as well. Ashton is a farming community.
Tom Remington
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I don’t personally want to encounter a grizzly…ever. I don’t live in a state that has them, so I don’t have a personal opinion on them. I’m just curious as to why your friend thought “It’s sad that grizzlies are taking over popular hiking areas.”? Wouldn’t it be kind of returning to the natural way things are meant to be? I’m not saying it’s good, bad or weird - I would just think it’s more “inevitable” than “sad”??
September 11th, 2007 at 11:34 pm
We are near West Yellowstone, Montana, presently. The top headline on the front page of the West Yellowstone News says, “It’s a Town in Bear Country.”
The article relates two recent bear incidents in the area.
In one, a grizzly was a attracted by the smell of garbage on a screened in back porch – you can guess the rest. The screen on the porch didn’t keep the grizzly out. Fortunately, he didn’t make it into the cabin.
In the other incident “a bear at the KOA campground nipped a man sleeping outside his tent, leaving a bruise on his thigh.”
We’re currently at the KOA campground mentioned. We’re in a hard-side camper and won’t be sleeping outside – not that we would under any other circumstances.
September 12th, 2007 at 12:48 am
I’ll let Erik speak for himself but from my own perspective I’ll say that first off, one reason it is sad as he describes it is the obvious that people will feel a need to stop using what appears to be a very popular hiking trail because of the unknown grizzly that me pop up.
Secondly, I’m not sure we can say that this is a return to “the natural way things are meant to be”. I’m not sure it is natural for grizzly bears to spend their time around humans, seeking out food from garbage, camping areas, etc.
Assuming that you mean that it is natural that bears continue their growth and expansion outside of the Yellowstone area, that I guess is in the eye of the beholder.
Whether you agree with the protection grizzlies had or not, same as with wolves, we can’t simply forget the fact that many people settled into these regions WITHOUT grizzlies and wolves. Both species were reintroduced, unwanted in many cases, and now people are having to educate themselves as to how to live with these animals.
For some there is a certain amount of “sadness” with that because they didn’t ask for it.
September 12th, 2007 at 7:20 am
Sorry, Tom, but grizzlies were not reintroduced here. Island Park is just a few miles down the road from where we are right at the KOA outside West Yellowstone. The bears have always been an attraction at Yellowstone National Park and never were eliminated from the park. Because of loss of habitat and geographic isolation from other grizzly populations, the grizzlies in the Yellowstone ecosystem were listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The population has significantly recovered. The natural roaming range of the bears can take them well outside the park and many bears now may never spend any time in the park. There was a story on the news this morning about a hunter on the Idaho side of the Bitteroots that killed a grizzly believing to be a black bear. It was the first report of a grizzly in that area in over 60 years.
With the last several years of heat and drought, there is less food of value than normal for the bears. They are in the phase of the year where they are physiologically driven to bulk up for their 5 to 6 months of winter hibernation.
September 12th, 2007 at 8:51 am
Mike - You are correct in that grizzlies were not reintroduced. In my rush to make a correlation between the problems with wolves and bears in growing populations, I incorrectly stated that grizzlies were reintroduced and I knew that. My bad and I’m sorry if I added confusion to this debate.
We are doing so well at providing better and better management practices for our wildlife, that I’m not sure the education process in how to deal with this many animals is keeping up.
What concerns me is with better available science and practices to management our game and the nationwide trends for fewer hunters, we will be facing a serious problem with pockets of overgrown game.
At the same time you have to sympathize with Erik’s mom who now may feel she has lost something that she valued because of the expansion of the grizzly.
September 12th, 2007 at 9:08 am
I do sympathize - and it is a little scary to think about the grizzlies being out there so close.
However, we do plan on taking some short hikes while we are here and we know that we are going to be in bear country.
September 12th, 2007 at 9:15 am
Great and have fun. If you get any good photos or an interesting story or observation you’d like to share with readers, send them along.
September 12th, 2007 at 9:23 am
Dana:
Let me clarify my comments. It’s sad that grizzlies are taking over popular hiking trails for two reasons: (1) Like Tom said, once you have frequent contact with grizzlies people will stop using the trails and (2) When you have frequent contact between humans and grizzlies, people are often maimed or killed and grizzlies are then tracked down and killed. It’s a bad deal for people and grizzlies.
Stay tuned. I’m going to send Tom two articles from today’s Idaho Falls Post Register to post here. There are getting to be far too many incidences like the one’s mentioned in the articles.
September 12th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
[...] Grizzly Tracks At Popular Island Park, Idaho Hiking Trail [...]
September 13th, 2007 at 11:18 am
[...] Tom Remington wrote a fantastic post today on “Grizzly Tracks At Popular Island Park, Idaho Hiking Trail”Here’s ONLY a quick extractMy mom went hiking Sept. 7 at a popular hiking trail in Island Park called Targhee Creek Trail. She took the following photo of grizzly tracks in the dirt. It’s sad that grizzlies are taking over popular hiking areas. … [...]
October 7th, 2007 at 1:30 pm