Teton Canyon to reopen soon: two bears captured, one euthanized

DRIGGS — Popular sections of Teton Canyon will reopen this week after two black bears were captured by Wyoming Game and Fish on Monday, July 4.

The US Forest Service decided to close the Popular Teton Canyon Campground and surrounding trailheads, including those for Table Mountain and Alaska Basin, on July 1 because of an aggressive bear.

One of the bears caught by Idaho Fish and Game Tuesday was a young male, which was not believed to be causing problems and was relocated to the Bridger Teton National Forest.

The other bear captured was a young female and matched a photograph taken of the problem bear, had a similar track size and had the same distinct white blaze on its chest.

The female was believed to have tried to get into an empty tent as well as two occupied ones. It also fed on human food in an unattended dispersed campsite. Most alarming, it had also charged a person in broad daylight.

Spokesman Mark Gocke said the bear’s aggression and bold behavior, especially during the day, made it clear the female bear was too dangerous to relocate and therefore needed to be “removed” from the population.

“It’s disappointing because as managers we don’t have any options to deal with a bear like that,” he said.

The canyon is scheduled to reopen Thursday, July 7 at noon. Though the problem bear has been captured, Pence said that it is important that the public honor the closure till it expires.

In order to capture the bear, fish and game biologists put baits around the canyon. It will take until Thursday for the scent from the bait to dissipate, meaning there is still a higher-than normal chance to encounter a bear.

District Ranger Jay Pence thanked the public for their patience during the closure.

“I have really been impressed by how supportive the public has been, “ he said, adding that the forest service realized the impact the closure had on many people’s holiday plans.

“They are frustrated, but they are understanding,” he said.

Pence said that frustration stems from the fact that most users in the canyon are responsible and that those users have been affected by the actions of a few. The Treasure Mountain Boy Scout Camp was supposed to open on the Fourth of July, but couldn’t because of the closure.

The scout camp has bad bear conflicts as early as last year, but recently received $25,000 from the Greater Yellowstone Coalition to improve its bear proofing infrastructure.

“When you recreate in the national forest,” Pence said, “your personal choices may have ripple effects beyond you and your immediate party.”

Pence also thanked the long hours that Wyoming Fish and Game staff put in on trapping the problem bear.

“They worked around the clock to be honest with you,” Gocke said. “There is kind of a lot of pressure on our guys to get the job done as soon as possible.”

However, Gocke said, the biologists’ job starts long before a bear becomes a problem and that game and fish staff are active in educating the public on how to prevent conflicts in the first place.

He said even after the canyon reopens, campers and hikers should not relax in their adherence to bear-aware practices. He said as vegetation dries out and thins, encounters with bears will pick up.

He called Teton Canyon a chronic bear conflict area, and unless people are more responsible, other bears could become used to human food as well.

“We just need to be vigilant with bear attractants,” Gocke said. “Otherwise we are going to be doing this all over again, unfortunately.”

The story was originally published in Teton Valley News. It is used here with permission.