For years Yellowstone Park officials have told hikers to carry bear spray and know how to use it, but an informal survery taken after two fatal bear attacks in Yellowstone this summer showed that only 16% of the park's day hikers carried the spray.
A 7.9 oz can of EPA registered bear spray costs approximately $50. Why the spray costs so much is anybody's guess; the main ingredient is "ground chile peppers."
So many visitors throw away their bear spray after visiting Yellowstone a special recycling program has been started to keep the noxious spray from going off accidentally while being hauled away to landfills.
Some hikers have stopped charging grizzlies with bear spray, but often bears attack so quickly there's no time to use bear spray.
There are concerns the spray fosters overconfidence that leads to confrontations with bears.
Yesterday in Bozeman, Mont., the Yellowstone Grizzly Bear Coordinating Committee discussed "bear information effectiveness." Today the Committee with discuss a new "I&E [information & education] planning effort."
Clearly, it's needed.
The Center For Wildlife Information has been well paid to produce hundreds of thousands of brochures for the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee; the long-winded bear spray brochure is filled with superfluous information.
Day hikers in Yellowstone probably don't care about the "registration process" for bear spray, but it's there, along with detailed facts about "enforcement monitoring." And more.
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