[pct-l] Bear Canister "required" areas on PCT in the Sierra...

[enyapjr at comcast.net]

Wandering Bob said:
"The problem...is one of too many bears in too small an area. The natural food supply therein is insufficient to feed them all."
"Whenever there are not enough resources (in this case, food) to support an established population, that population must either find a new food source in the area (in this case, people food), relocate to another area that has the needed resources, or die off until it reaches a level that can be sustained by the available resource supply. That's nature's way and it has worked since life began."
"It is far easier to control, regulate, and fine the people than to actually control the bears."

Please read about the black bear's reproduction system (<http://www.sierrawildbear.gov/biology/reproduction.htm> a 'simplified' version)...  Because of delayed implantation, if an impregnated sow is malnourished due to insufficient food supply, she will abort...  The black bear's reproduction system is its own first line of defense against overpopulation...  "That's nature's way..."

I don't see how there are enough humans in the Sierra backcountry providing an over abundance of 'people food' to help the bears 'overpopulate' the area, either - and by the statistics, the number of bear/human incidents or interactions has actually gone down, not up, over the years - in both the backcountry and the frontcountry...  The regulations have helped and are working...

Some thrus have commented about how 'scrawny' or malnourished the Sierra black bears appear - yet do those thrus realize on a normal nobo thru schedule they are seeing the bears at or near the black bears lowest annual weight?  As for "too many bears", many thrus lament they didn't get to see a single bear while in the Sierra - hardly a case of overpopulation...

Yes, we, people, should control, regulate, and fine people in order to keep the people food away from the bears...  We, people, should NOT try to control the bears to fit our human wants and desires in the wilderness...  We, people, are just a "visitor" in the wilderness, which is supposed to be the bears' home - not ours...
The data says 'controlling' people IS working...  Let nature take care of the bears population - "it has worked since life began."

It's time to take stock - we, the thru community, should have the responsibility to 'share the burden' and help lead the way, not wait to be led nor let some 'others' solve the "problem"...  Everyone, thrus included, should use a bear canister in the Sierra - it's simply the 'right' thing to do...  IMHO, of course! - YMMV...

Happy trails!!!
Jim Payne

"There is no conversation more boring than the one where everybody agrees." - Michel de Montaigne