Avoid feeding bears while hiking

CRAIG PARRISH

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Hikers making their way out the Mount Baker Highway in upcoming days should be aware that there have been regular bear sightings in the Heather Meadows area.

The bears are trying to eat as much as possible to prepare for the winter, according to Magenta Widner, forestry technician at the Glacier Public Service Center.

A favorite of the bears' diet is blueberries and several sub-species grow in the Heather Meadows area, Widner said. A number of people also are interested in picking blueberries, and as such can come in close proximity to the animals.

"People should be aware that the bears are around," Widner said. "It's usually a spring and fall thing, but the berries are a couple of weeks late, like everything else. In the spring bears were begging and people were feeding them, so they had to be removed."

If fed, bears are likely to become more and more aggressive. In the spring, they were getting closer and closer to the highway, Widner said. If people realize that an animal may be in the area, it's the hikers that need to go.

"You need to leave if the bears show up, need to respect that the bears have nowhere else to go," Widner said. "It can become a safety issue; if not for you, then for the next person."

Basic safety rules should be followed, Wider said; Yell, make noise, keeps dogs on leashes. And while getting an opportunity to take a picture of a feeding bear is attractive, it's not worth the risk.

"Just because they're hungry doesn't mean they should have human food," Widner said. "In general, the bears don't care about people, they're just hungry."

ROAD CLOSURE

Mount Baker Highway (State Route 542) will be closed Sunday, Sept. 7, for Ride 542, the Mount Baker Hill Climb bicycle race. Intermittent road closures begin at 7:45 a.m. in Glacier, and the road will be closed between Canyon Creek Road and Artist Point between 8 a.m. and noon.

More information is available on the race Web site at www.norkarecreation.com/hcroadinfo.htm.

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POSTED: Friday, Sep. 05, 2008

Avoid feeding bears while hiking

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