Photo by Jim Hagengruber
The Montana State Parks Department is thinking of requiring Smith River floaters to put electric bear fences around their campsites. This scene was shot on the Smith a few years back.
Anybody who has floated the super-scenic Smith River in central Montana in recent years knows it has a bear problem. Careless campers who failed to handle their food and garbage properly have food-conditioned a number of black bears.
Likewise, anybody familiar with bear behavior knows that once a bear receives a food reward from humans, it keeps coming back for more until it becomes a safety concern and has to be, as wildlife managers put it, “removed from the population.” Hence, the truism—a fed bear is a dead bear.
The Montana State Parks Department, the agency charged with managing recreation on the Smith River, has to find a solution to this persistent problem. But does MSP have the right answer?
The department is seriously considering requiring floaters to buy and set up an electric fence every night in every campsite. I happen to think metal food lockers approved by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee or “bear boxes,” as they’re commonly called, would be a much better solution for these reasons:
1. Electric fences are expensive (around $300-plus).
2. Electric fences can work well if installed and maintained correctly, but some won’t be. Reliability (of both the fence and the owner) will be a problem—dead batteries, broken wires, etc.
3. Some models of electric fence are time-consuming to set up.
4. Bears, famous for “learned behavior,” will sooner or later figure how to break through fences and get their food rewards.
5. Electric fences are better suited for undesignated campsites that are moved frequently such as those we use while backpacking or floating remote rivers and in secluded outfitter camps.
7. Oh, I should also mention that electric fences and little kids don’t go well together. Lots of families take trips down the Smith River.
8. Another option could be requiring food and garbage be kept in small IGBC-approved bear-resistant food containers, but this would be as popular as pay toilets on the Smith River where people aren’t in the mood for backpacking fare, opting instead for coolers filled with steaks and beer.
Photo by Jim Hagengruber
The magnificent Smith River.
9. Most important, though, is the fact that we have a viable and arguably more effective alternative. Instead of pursuing the electric fence option, MSP should opt for metal, IGBC-approved food lockers similar to those used in Glacier and Grand Teton national parks and Custer and Gallatin national forests. These bear boxes really work as long as people use them, and since they’re so convenient, I believe compliance would be higher than requiring electric fences. And this is a truly permanent solution to a thorny problem that wouldn’t put undue financial burden on MSP’s customers or create create any ill will.
Yes, bear boxes are expensive, but I think most Smith River fans would prefer a small, temporary surcharge on the river fee (i.e. $5-$10 per group) to cover the cost. After the expense of purchasing and installing the bear boxes has been covered, MSP can (and should) eliminate the surcharge.
I’m going out on a limb and predicting floaters would rather pay this surcharge than buy a $300 electric fence they might never use again.
By switching to bear boxes, MSP would end up with a more popular, more effective, permanent solution at no expense to the agency. What’s wrong with that picture?
For more of Bill’s commentaries, go to theorgtable.wix.com/the-org-table.
