Page 28 - Flathead Beacon // 8.20.14

28 | AUGUST 20, 2014
NEWS
FLATHEADBEACON.COM
ARMS
Continued from page 5
rare for one loping along the roadside to jam up tourist traffic on Going-to-the- Sun Road, nor is it uncommon for a hiker to encounter a bear on the trail.
But incidents involving guns and grizzlies in Glacier have been rare, even though it has been legal since 2010 for visitors to carry firearms in national parks – so long as they abide by state laws. It remains illegal to discharge one with- in Glacier.
The July 26 incident, in which a Texas man shot at and is believed to have woundedabearhetoldofficialscharged him, remains under investigation, ac- cording to park spokesperson Sarah Grieb.
The Aug. 10 incident, Grieb said, in- volved a father and son from Alabama who were climbing down from Mount Siyeh when a 200-pound boulder dis- lodged from a field of scree and loose rock and caromed off the younger hiker, knocking him down and causing him to tumble 200 feet.
His injuries include lacerations to his head and chin, and, according to Grieb, “in an attempt to summon aid, the father waved his arms while yelling” before he “fired one gunshot toward a solid sur- face to indicate that an emergency was occurring.”
Nearby hikers reported hearing both the yelling and the gunshot, and park per- sonnel met the injured party on the trail before the junction between Siyeh Pass Trail and Piegan Pass Trail. Two Bear Air transported them to West Glacier, where an ambulance took them on to North Valley Hospital in Whitefish.
In this case, cracking off a round from a handgun seems to have worked to draw attention, although the yelling may have sufficed.
It remains unclear, however, if the firearm used in the former case was an ef- fective deterrent, and park officials inves- tigating the incident remain concerned that an injured and agitated bear (the hiker did not know if it was a grizzly or black bear) would cause other conflicts.
The National Park Service, along with state and federal wildlife agencies, highly recommends the use of pepper spray – a pressurized can of hot-pepper oil – rath- er than guns when faced with a bear, not- ing several studies proving the spray to be more effective than a bullet in divert- ing or stopping a charging bear.
Retired Glacier Park Ranger Gary Moses is a product ambassador for Counter Assault pepper spray, which is specifically designed to repel a bear that is charging or attacking. Moses said he believes the increased popularity of bear spray among hikers through the years has caused a downturn in bear at- tacks because the animals are adopting a learned response – something they don’t have the opportunity to do if they are shot and killed.
“I firmly believe from my experience that bears are learning to stay a little bit more wary of people,” Moses said. “The beauty is that when they are sprayed with
bear spray they learn something and they pass it on.”
Prior to 2010, park visitors were re- quired to keep their guns unloaded and out of reach, such as concealed in the trunk. But the 2010 law allows visitors to take loaded guns anywhere, so long as they’re not prohibited by state or feder- allaw.
Records show that in the years lead- ing up to the new law, between 2005 and 2009 – when Glacier Park visitation to- taled nearly 10 million people – only three visitors were injured by grizzlies. No one was killed.
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, “evidence of human- bear encounters even suggests that shooting a bear can escalate the seri- ousness of an attack.” The agency adds that a review of bear attacks shows inju- ries are more frequent and more severe when a gun was used, than when spray was deployed.
The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks concurs, warning people that “if you are armed, use a fire- arm only as a last resort. Wounding a bear, even with a large-caliber gun, can put you in far greater danger.”
For one thing, shooting a gun in a na- tional park is still against the law. For another, killing a grizzly, except to de- fend yourself or someone else, is a feder- al crime punishable by up to six months in prison and a $25,000 fine, and killing wildlife in a national park is a separate crime altogether.
Previously, national parks were no- gun zones, but even now that state gun rules apply, incidents at Glacier are rela- tively infrequent.
On June 12, 2010, a woman was hik- ing on the Sun Road near Logan Creek when she encountered what she claimed was an aggressive whitetail deer. When the deer continued to approach her, she discharged pepper spray, firing the can- ister toward the animal but apparently was standing too far away.
So, she pulled out a .357 magnum handgun and fired it into the ground away from the animal to scare it. The deer hopped into the bushes, but still stayed fairly close.
She was not cited, but was given a written warning, told that discharging a firearm in the park is illegal unless a per- son could expect “imminent” danger.
Russ Wilson, chief of regulations and special park uses for the National Park Service, said he receives a query about firearms in the park from the public ev- ery couple of weeks or so.
“I generally refer them to the fire- arms information on the web page of the park they are interested in and advise them to contact the park’s chief ranger if they still have questions,” he said, adding that the new law has not created any sig- nificant burden for him.
Park spokesperson Denise Germann said a poaching incident on the park’s east side a few years ago, which included the discharge of a firearm, resulted in a citation.
No other incidents have included a formal citation.
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