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[pct-l] Proof of a Bear-Can
- Subject: [pct-l] Proof of a Bear-Can
- From: carolars at earthlink.net (Lars Nilsson)
- Date: Mon Oct 11 10:23:40 2004
"And remember, a fed bear
is a dead bear."
Jeff,
Normally, I don't engage in ad hominim attacks, but leave it to a lawyer to encourage people to be part of the problem and not the solution when it comes to being a steward of our natural resources. Virtually all bear cans weigh less than 2 1/2 pounds, which is less than most sleeping bags, less than half of most tents, etc. I am a gram weenie as far as pack weight (Summer base is 8 lbs.), but even when I carried over 50 lbs I wouldn't consider another 2 lbs to be a terrible imposition by "the Man."
This has been the year of the aggressive black bears. Early in the season there was a "problem" bear near Little Jimmy in the San Gabriel Mts. A few months later Chilao Campground, about 5 miles from the PCT, was closed due to a problem bear. About two weeks before I went backpacking with my kids in the Cottonwood Lakes area, a man was injured by a bear. In June or July there was a female and cub team that went after unguarded packs.
You asked, "Is it a time-critical event
that also immediately affects public safety?"
YES it is. Rangers can easily see if car campers are complying with food storage regulations, and still bears get food, become "fed bears" and need to be destroyed. The Grizzly Bear is extinct in California - does the Black Bear need to meet the same fate? Maybe we can legally ignore a backcountry demand for proof of a bearcan. Maybe we can even tell them to "pound sand" when they ask for our permits. John Muir has been dead for 100 years! He hiked the Sierras when California's population was about 1/10th of what is is now, and the US about 1/3rd of now. Wilderness must be regulated with our cooperation if we want it to remain wild. Since less than 1% of Americans travel into wilderness areas, we can't reasonably expect much in the way of public resources (i.e. tax money) to be spent there. With rangers oversight, we must police ourselves. Some rangers can be rude authoritarians, but there are many pigs out there carrying backpacks who think they practice "stealth camping".
Lars Nilsson