Posted on 08/01/2011 6:21:22 PM PDT by MamaDearest
BANFF, Alta. - One of the most popular hiking and biking trails in Banff National Park is bringing in restrictions at the height of the summer tourist season due to fears of bear attacks.
The Lake Minnewanka Trail has been a favourite haunt for hikers and mountain bikers for decades. There are over three million visitors to the park each year and many of them take to the 32-kilometre trail northeast of the Banff townsite.
Until Sept. 15, it will be mandatory for hikers to travel in groups of at least four. At least one of the individuals will be required to carry bear spray.
"This is the first time we've required bear spray and it's only on this section of trail," Parks Canada spokesman Mark Merchant saidThursday.
"If people don't follow the rules, it gives us another thing that the law enforcement branch can fall back on. That's going to be the last recourse."
Being charged requires a mandatory court appearance where a judge can impose a fine of up to $25,000 under the National Parks Act. Merchant said there have been no close calls this season but the risk is still there. There are an estimated 60 grizzly bears within the boundaries of the park as well as another 40 to 50 black bears. Many are now feeding on the plentiful buffalo berries in the area.
"We have had encounters in the past. We've had a mauling and we've had also just close encounters," Merchant said.
"We really need to emphasize how serious we're taking the situation on this section of trail. By telling people 'you have to carry bear spray' we really think we're going to drive that message home.
"Bear spray probably is the best tool as a last resort. It has proven more effective then firearms or anything else."
There is also a ban on mountain bikers and dogs on most of the trail. Merchant said mountain bikers are quieter and faster than hikers and are more prone to surprise a bear. The local cycling group is supportive of the new rules, he added.
The Parks Canada website says that between 1998 and 2005 there were five bear attacks in Banff National Park in two locations: Allenby Pass near Bryant Creek and the Aylmer Pass trail near Lake Minnewanka.
All of the bear attacks were on hikers alone or in small groups and happened when they surprised female grizzlies with cubs along the trails during berry season.
There hasn't been a fatal bear attack in the park since 1980.
Would a 12ga pump with OO buck qualify as bear spray?
There, fixed it for 'em.
Hikers should learn the difference between black bear and grizzly scat so you can identify what kind of animals are around you in the woods.
Basically, the difference is the black bear scat looks like regular bear scat while the grizzly bear scat is sort of like regular bear scat but smells like hot peppers.
I tell ya, we have some mean critters in TX but two things we don’t allow for is bear and gator.
Good luck with that, in Canada...
Oh great, just when I was thinking my bear spray canister is probably older than it should be...... It's expensive. Bear spray isn't all that should be packed in case you're hiking in grizzly or black bear territory. Cell phones don't work in the far back country.....
Mountain bikers taste like chicken.
“... it will be mandatory for bear food to travel in packages of at least four”.
yeah, yeah... try finding the rolls in the exact number. Impossible!
Here in SE Texas we got some big gators.
We had one over 10ft in our lake.
My nephew tried to catch him and he took off with the hook and line. Found him dead on the island in the middle of the lake, chocked on the hook.
If it’s a grizz, I’d want a little more than a shot gun.
I agree but I was trying to be compliant with the “spray” requirement and a .30cal machine gun seemed pretty unlikely in Canada
Who wants to be out enjoying the great outdoors when one member of the group is shuffling along listening to their iPod while the other two are yakking away and seemingly stepping on and snapping every branch they come to??
My sister-in-law has some fancy bear repellent dispenser thing. Something about a scandium-alloy frame and .44 magnum ...
What part of Texas you in that you don’t have gator’s?
Some people think gators are cute. They can protect them, we sure ain’t.
As Jayne said on Serenity, "I just get excitable as to choice...like to have my options open."
Yeah, I know.
In the Cascades, the rangers carry 9mm. What for, if it’s so safe?
I’ve crossed huge black bears in the Cascades (big enough and brown enough to look like a grizz at first sight).
I really wish I’d been allowed to have a sidearm, because the next hours had me switchback several times where the bear ducked into the brush.
But hey, at least the ranger would be protected when he went in to pull out my remains.
Grizzly bear sighting confirmed in the North Cascades last fall
July 1, 2011 The first verified grizzly bear sighting has been identified in a photograph taken last October in Washington's North Cascades Mountains, according to a North Cascades National Park Services news release.
This is the first Class 1 report of a grizzly bear in the North Cascades ecosystem since 1996. Class 1 reports are considered verified sightings of a species that include physical evidence such as tracks or a photograph of the animal with a geographically-verifiable background.
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