Utah Boy Scout leader may be charged for shooting bear

[WingedMonkey]

http://www.standard.net/stories/2013...-shooting-bear

Bold highlights are my own.

KAMAS — A Boy Scout camp director’s fatal shooting of a black bear in Utah is under investigation by wildlife officials.

The bear was lured to camp by food improperly left out by a troop Wednesday night at Utah’s Hinckley Scout Ranch, said Jodie Anderson, spokeswoman for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.

Wildlife officials had given a presentation to the Scouts earlier in the day about bear safety precautions, including the need to leave a clean camp and to properly store all food and trash.
“Right now, our law enforcement is hoping to finish up the investigation,” Anderson told The Salt Lake Tribune. “Once it’s completed, we’ll turn it over to the county attorney.”

She declined to speculate on what possible charges the camp director could face. He was not identified.
Rick Barnes, head of the Boys Scouts of America’s Great Salt Lake Council, said the camp director was called to the site and found the bear eating a bag of candy bars on top of a picnic table.

The bear wouldn’t leave when attempts were made to shoo it away, Barnes said, and the decision was made to shoot the animal out of concern for the safety of about 500 Scouts in the camp. The bear was shot three times.
The troop that left the food out was asked to leave the camp Thursday and won’t be allowed to return until next year, Barnes added.

“They put the whole camp at risk and so we sent them home,” he told the Deseret News.
The weeklong camp began Monday at the 600-acre site on the east fork of the Bear River on the north slope of the Uinta Mountains.
Wildlife officials visited the camp to warn Scouts about bear safety after a bruin matching the description of the dead bear had been sighted at the camp last weekend.
“The bear had come into the camp a couple of different times, just for the fact that the camp had not been taken care of the way that it should have,” Anderson said. “Once a bear has a taste of that food and knows he has an opportunity to have more, he’ll keep coming back.”
Among other tips, wildlife officials urge the public to clean up all trash thoroughly, to store all trash and food in a bear-safe container, to wipe down all eating surfaces and never to store food in a tent.

Until a name change last year this camp was called East Fork of the Bear River Scout Reservation.

[rickb]

Having bear coming into scout camp is part of the experience.

Too bad the director screwed the pooch on this one.

[Pedaling Fool]

After reading that article I now have the urge to go out and buy a big bag of candy bars.

[kidchill]

The whole thing sounds like a mess...but, just curious, wouldn't some warning shots first "maybe" have avoided this? I mean, other than the obvious food storage problem...

[rocketsocks]

A crowd of ten and one brave soul to whack the bear on the nose with a stick would certainly have caused it to flea. Shame really....and now this guys gonna get hosed.

[Wise Old Owl]

Doubt it.... The county attorney will make an educated decision.

[rocketsocks]

Don't have a lot of faith in the so called educated these days their to busy telling everybody just how educated they are.

[Sarcasm the elf]

It's particularly sad to see the sort of lesson this particular scout leader chose to teach the scouts about dealing with wildlife. I'm glad I got my Eagle as a part of a much more responsible troop and district.

I have a close friend who is the director of a similarly sized youth camp in the Berkshires, they have bears enter camp every summer and have never had an issue.

[Wise Old Owl]

Well OK I read the Associated Press and then went for some local papers in that area I took about ten minutes to figure out that the AP has a clear "environmental" agenda and as exspert word smiths they are swaying the public about what to think. So no I really doubt 500 kids in a large camp and 1 troop was sent home for not abiding by the clear rules, is a good start and I don't see any error in judgement on the decision to take out the bear. So let m get this straight, so there is no misunderstanding... If you had a child at this camp and they educated everyone there about the dangers of bears and 1 troop blew it for everyone... who comes first? your kid or the bear?

As RickB said above - having a bear pass thru the camp or stopped by is the experience. But from the little information available - I think the camp director exhausted his options and did the right thing.


That's my take on the whole thing.... its not exactly news....

[rocketsocks]

I disagree...even the ugliest of creatures can be run off...given enough of an angry crowd.

cheap theatric push

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dac8S_u8Q4

[rocketsocks]

The bear wouldn’t leave when attempts were made to shoo it away..


You don't shoo a bruin away...you kick it's ass! I'm pretty sure they gave this bear a wide birth, what with all the kids there and all...wouldn't you think?

Reminds me of Bill Brysons book when him and katz have a bear encounter...

"Oh you brute, go away do...withdraw at once you horrid creature"

[Wise Old Owl]

ah the lack of Rocksalt and a 12 gauge.

[Teacher & Snacktime]

ah the lack of Rocksalt and a 12 gauge.

for whom? Bryson or the bear? (you certainly don't want to wound the bear....it'd just piss him off!)

[Wise Old Owl]

Ya just made the old owl laugh!

[rocketsocks]

ah the lack of Rocksalt and a 12 gauge.

I was thinking more like...a few peoples with sticks rapped with clothe and dowsed in white gas...just like in the movies

or at the very least a tranquilizer gun or some pepper spray.

[WingedMonkey]

My first thought was that a Latter-day Saints camp, in a Latter-day Saints Council in a Latter-day Saints state wouldn't have to worry about wildlife laws enforcement....however some years back the state won a judgement against the Boy Scouts of America after a careless fire episode at the same camp burned 14,208 acres of adjacent federal, state and private land. BSA had to shell out more than $330,000 in cash and plant more than 9,000 tree seedlings on state land scorched by a Scout troop left unsupervised in 2002. (although the state originally wanted $600,000) Makes me think the state might take this serious.

[slbirdnerd]

Where the hell was the bear spray if they were camping in an area known for bears? I understand the predicament but feel the Scout leadership was wrong on several counts. I HOPE they will learn from this.

[leaftye]

A fed bear is a dead bear.

500 scouts won't be forgetting that.

[Wise Old Owl]

Where the hell was the bear spray if they were camping in an area known for bears? I understand the predicament but feel the Scout leadership was wrong on several counts. I HOPE they will learn from this.

Why do you think that would work?

[4Bears]

Wildlife officials visited the camp to warn Scouts about bear safety after a bruin matching the description of the dead bear had been sighted at the camp last weekend.
“The bear had come into the camp a couple of different times, just for the fact that the camp had not been taken care of the way that it should have,” Anderson said. ............... My question is if there was a problem bear in the area, why did "wildlife officials" feel that only talking about it would do any good. I would think they could have trapped and moved him in fairly short order, since it appears he was not going far from the camp. There is some joint responsibility on both sides, however he has not yet been charged with anything.