August 28, 1998 Article in Ravalli Republic: Poor berry season equals bear problems. By Nicholas K. Geranios Associated Press.
PRIEST RIVER, Idaho The warning at the remote campground was stark, written with charcoal on a rough board: Watch Out For Bears.
Hungry black bears are bumping into humans all over the Northwest this summer, driven by a poor crop of wild berries to search for food in campgrounds and garbage cans.
"The huckleberry crop this year is very low," said Dan Len of the U.S Forest Service in Republic, Wash. "We've seen them (bears) here in town."
Problems are particularly acute in the Priest Lake area of Idaho, the U.S.Canadian border near OrovilIe, Wash., and over in the Olympia National Forest in Western Washington. The bears haven't been attackuig humans, but wildlife mangers are worried that the encounters will spawn confrontations.
So far, the bears have been getting the worst end of the deal. Four black bears have been killed in Northern Idaho in the past week. Three were struck by vehicles in the Priest River area last Sunday. One was shot by Forest Service workers at the Spruce Creek campground on the St. Joe River.
A bear was shot near Nordman, Idaho, earlier this summer, and a grizzly was shot near an Usk, Wash., home a few weeks ago.
In British Columbia, at least 35 bears have been shot this summer in the small area between the Okanagan Valley communities of Peachland and Osoyoos, which is on the U.S. border near Oroville.
In July, camping areas along a 6.8-mile stretch of trail in the Olympia National Park were closed because of bear sightings. Some of the camps have since reopened.
In Washington, one bear nicknamed Sparky has been seen half a dozen times in Swan Lake campgrounds this summer, Len said. The bear has learned how to open the hatchback on vehicles, and has tried to get inside camping trailers when people are inside, Len said. So far, the bear has escaped a trap set up for him, Len said.
There appear to be two main reasons for the bear problems: More humans living and vacationing in bear country, and the poor crop of hucklebenies, a major component of the bears' diet. said Madonna Luers of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife in Spokane.
Huckleberries ripened early this year and the supply has dried up in the hot summer, she said.
"Bears aren't dumb," Luers said. "They hone in on places they might get an easy meal."
That tends to be garbage cans and campsites, where food is often sloppily stored, she said. While humans are frightened of grizzly bears and mountain lions, they tend to get complacent about black bears, she said. That's a mistake.
"A black bear can be very aggressive when protecting a food source or their young," she said. "They have fangs and claws for a reason."
The bears are driven by natural urges to consume 30 to 40 percent of their weight every day, to fatten up for winter hibernation, said Charles Robbins, a bear researcher at Wash- ington State University.
Starting in mid-July, a 200-pound bear will try to eat 60 to 80 pounds of food a day, he said.
But with berries scarce and traditional food sources such as salmon not easily available, bears are turning to other foods, Robbins said.
"They havc similar taste buds to humins," Robbins said. "Put yourself in the woods and picture what you'd eat."