BWCA food storage rules had an effect on bear encounters, forest service officials say

Outdoor Activities

The U.S. Forest Service enacted tougher standards for hanging and storing food in the BWCAW.

By Bob Timmons

Last spring, Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) managers toughened the rules for how visitors store food, hoping to reduce the odds of encounters with bears.

So far, they say, the moves appear to have worked.

The U.S. Forest Service supervises the Superior National Forest and the BWCAW. An agency spokesperson told the Minnesota Star Tribune that visitors have reported fewer than 10 brushes with bears this season. The number is “significantly lower” than previous years, said Joy Liptak VanDrie. The last three seasons have averaged 42.

Before the new order took effect in mid-April, the agency said there had been increased interactions between humans and bear sows and their cubs searching for food. Hanging food packs from trees or securing provisions in containers are standard recommendations. The new order was more exacting, adding that stores must be 12 feet above the ground and 6 feet out from a tree trunk. Additionally, visitors who secure food on the ground must use containers certified by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee. Many of the common polyethylene blue barrels aren’t on the list. (Find the list at bit.ly/bearprooflists.)

Rangers reported this season that most of their interactions with the public were positive and that campers “were trying to make an honest attempt to be compliant,” Liptak VanDrie said. There have been no citations. The agency said it would issue warnings this year only if there were gross or repeated violations.

The Forest Service will increase its communications about how to pick trees and hang food properly, she said, and has heard requests to produce a how-to video. That could be welcome news to some BWCAW visitors who congregate online. Finding suitable campsites to meet the new standard has been a notable and at times contentious topic in comments in a survey on BWCA.com and a related Facebook group.

Website and group administrator Adam Amato provided some of the feedback. One survey respondent said their party passed many sites that lacked trees to comply with the Forest Service rule or support the weight of packs. Others noted tree damage or finding ropes left behind and aloft. Another survey-taker suggested the Forest Service install bear-proof boxes at sites with a history of trouble.

Rangers consider campsite conditions when enforcing the new order, Liptak VanDrie said. Also, while rangers spotted some broken branches this season, there wasn’t a noticeable increase in tree damage, she added.

Outfitter Ginny Nelson sees thousands of customers in a season at Spirit of the Wilderness in Ely. She said the new food storage order has had a mixed effect on her business, but the impact has been unremarkable because so many already hang their food, “smellables” like toothpaste and lip balm, and trash.

Nelson bought more Ursacks, a brand of certified bear-proof bags, to rent or sell, but almost all of them have gone unused. Nelson said she is rethinking whether to stock up on new, approved bear vaults because of the response to Ursacks. She has sold more rope.

“I would say I am pleasantly surprised. For most people, [the new order] is a nonissue,” she said.

A bigger issue, Nelson said, remains the number of entry permits that get reserved but go unused, touching on a more heated topic. “People are booking more than they are using.”

Bob Timmons covers news across Minnesota's outdoors, from natural resources to recreation to wildlife.

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