Glacier trails close for grizzly conditioning

The Daily Inter Lake

Aversive conditioning for a female grizzly bear gets under way today in Glacier National Park near Oldman and Morning Star lakes.

The experimental program will continue through Aug. 21 and will involve the closure of trails and the Oldman and Morning Star campgrounds.

Bear management specialists will use Karelian bear dogs, along with cracker shells, rubber bullets and bean-bag rounds to discourage the bear from approaching areas used by people.

The two-week program is a continuation of efforts last summer to condition the bear, which had developed a habit of frequenting the campgrounds.

According to a park press release, the trail closures are necessary to ensure that the aversive conditioning is conducted in a controlled environment, without interrupting or altering the management actions due to hiker activity. It will also allow the bear s response to be carefully monitored.

The closed trail portions are: the Pitamakan Pass Trail from the Dry Fork junction to the junction with Cut Bank Pass, and the Cut Bank Valley Trail from the Atlantic Creek junction to Pitamakan Pass.

Dawson Pass to Pitamakan Overlook and Cut Bank Pass will remain open to hikers.

The work will be conducted by park rangers and staffers from the Utah-based Wind River Bear Institute. It is being paid for by a grant from the Glacier Fund, one of the park s nonprofit partners.

The conditioning was scheduled to start a week ago but was postponed because of the Red Eagle fire in the St. Mary area.