[pct-l] Testing of Bear Cannisters

[Ken Murray]

Matt, it is a shame that you were not at the KO.

Two of the attendees were Tori Seher, chief bear biologist at Yosemite, and Calder Reid, Wilderness Manager on the Inyo Nat Forest.

As you may know, the Sierra Interagency Black Bear Group (SIBBG) was the entity that for the last ten years, had been responsible for recommending products to the Agencies, and carried out the testing of these products.

As far as I know, either Tori or Calder has been the chair of the SIBBG, and both have been two of the 5 or so members since inception.   So.....these are the experts on the situation!

Because of multiple lawsuits by Ursack, that have crippled the ability of SIBBG to perform testing, they no longer do.  In fact, nobody does, so there is no mechanism currently for a product to get approved by an Agency, so all we have are the products that are out there.

At the presentation that these two gave on fire and bears, Tori went through the exact way that the testing was done, process by process.  I think most people were impressed by the comprehensiveness and objectivity.

Hey, some of these presenters really know what they are talking about, and in their case, were around all day friday and saturday to answer any questions about anything.

Another benefit of the KO.