[pct-l] Shooting problem bears in Yosemite

[mardav@charter.net (Marion Davison)]

Shoot problem bears in Yosemite?  This strategy has already been used.
My reference is "Yosemite:  the Embattled Wilderness" by Alfred Runte,
page 206
I quote:
"  The scandal broke in the fall of 1973 when newspapers throughout
California published articles that finally revealed just how heavily
bear management in Yosemite relied on the killing and disposing of the
animals.  Confronted with the evidence, government officials admitted
that more than 200 bears had been killed in the park between 1960 and
1972.  However, the park service added, quickly defending that
statistic, most had been "garbage" bears, those whose feeding habits
especially posed a danger to park visitors.  More difficult to explain
were revelations confirming that the carcasses had simply been dumped
off a cliff along the Big Oak Flat Road.  Pictures taken at the base of
the cliff, reported the San Francisco Chronicle, showed bloody carcasses
wedged in trees, or collapsed on rocks where they landed after being
thrown from above.  Many had been skinned. "

The passage goes on to detail public reaction to the killing, both for
and against.
This book contains at least 24 pages detailing a century of bear policy
in Yosemite, and largely explains how we got to where we are today.  I
highly recommend it.  I used it as a major source of information for a
college research paper on Yosemite bear policy.

Yosemite still kills problem bears that have behavior that endangers
visitors, as do other forest agencies.  They state this clearly in their
bear awareness brochures, given to every visitor, telling us that
failure to properly store our food can lead to the death of bears.
Marion Davison, "llamalady"