[gb]

Carrying bear spray is a minor inconvenience. In September 2015 I revisited Assiniboine for the 4th time. My friend turned over operation of Assiniboine Lodge to his son about two years before that after having had the concession, booking all of the Naisett cabins, and booking the campsites in Assiniboine Provincial Park since 1982. I had a beer with him at the lodge and asked, "Have their been many incidents in the area since you have been there? His reply was no, and then he told me that the Grizzlies were not native to the Rockies but in the old days were down on the Prairies, and S.R. pointed to an area where you would be likely to see a Grizzly, as they eat Hedysarum. The Marmots have also adapted by digging under rock outcrops (which I saw above the lodge on a solo hike). I also rode and talked with Andy Mackinnon in April of 2019. When I asked, "Who did all the surveys of the plants in EFloraBC? He replied, "Me and Jim Pojar, over thirty years surveying all the plants in BC." I asked, Have you had any negative encounters with Grizzlies in that time." He replied, "Only good ones."

[Ski]

[FiveNines]

Kitya, Would you let your dog hike off leash in grizzly country? Why or why not? GB, That's a pretty cool anecdote about Andy Mackinnon. I bet it was a lot of fun riding and talking to him Hearing stories about his adventures and explorations. Here is a story about Mr Langley. TJ had a different experience than your friend Andy. I wonder what it would be like to ride talk with TJ's family and friends about girzzly bears? Is their experience more or less valid than Andy's? Are either/both of these stories good evidence or reason to make a wildlife reintroduction policy? Or are they just interesting and emotional anecdotes about people most of us don't know and have never met? Why or why not?

[jinx'sboy]

[kitya]

[BigBrunyon]

[altasnob]

Per Wikipedia, grizzlies were nearly everywhere in Western North America. Plains, mountains, chilling on the beaches of Santa Monica, down in Mexico.

[treeswarper]

Supposedly, there are bears already in the area. So, you'd best already be taking precautions. I'd say that yes, most people who live on the east side of the mountains do not want bears dumped. Wolves are bad enough and costing a heck of a lot of money to try to manage along with the usual lawsuits and bickering. If the orange one is deposed in January, there will be a heck of a lot of things to fix that are more important than dumping bears in an area that already has a few in it. I'd compare it to a train wreck.

[gb]

I've seen tracks myself in the North Cascades in 2009 (front) that measured about 9-1/4" by 10-1/2" with a 2" claw overhang. About 30 fresh tracks on snow in late May. I've also talked with two folks that have seen them; one very near where I saw the tracks a couple of months later.

[gb]

[jackchinook]

[jeannette]

[Altasnob][/IMO, the fact that a few people may die due to a grizzly attack is not a sufficient reason to not reintroduce grizzlies to their native habitats, if it is realistically possible] I guess as long as you are OK with the fact that you might be one of those few people who die due to a grizzly attack

[treeswarper]

Besides people dying, trails may be closed when griz is in the area. If the bears don't know that they are supposed to stay in the park, and settle down in the non wilderness, roads may be closed, gated, or decommissioned as the area is now grizzly habitat. There's more to it than people getting killed.

[FiveNines]

[kitya]

Black bears too, apparently, love doing some road maintenance, here is an example from Beckler river road: https://www.facebook.com/groups/washingtonhikersandclimbers/permalink/3001872796705714/ FiveNines - it might not be as effective to scramble with the leash, but I feel it is safer. At least once I had a situation in winter, where Cookie slipped on ice into a waterfall. She would have been dragged away by water, if not me holding her leash and able to pull her back out quickly. Leash is safer for the dog, it is safer for wildlife too.