Foraging Bears Invade Campgrounds Sightings Prompt Warnings As Hunting Season Nears

Foraging bears have been seen recently in several campgrounds and in the backcountry along the upper St. Joe River.

A U.S. Forest Service trail crew working over Labor Day weekend found a bear ripping into their tents looking for food at their camp near Mosquito Creek Trail No. 631. Shouts from the crew failed to chase the bear away.

Forest Service crews have stopped overnight trips since the encounter, said Mary Price, Forest Service recreation specialist in St. Maries.

“The bears this year have been really standing their ground, which is odd,” Price said.

Late August visitors to the Spruce Tree, Conrad Crossing and Turner Flat campgrounds reported bears getting into food and garbage in their campsites. Bears also were spotted at Gold Flat, Lines Creek Stock Camp and the Red Ives Ranger Station.

Idaho Fish and Game Department officers are trying to trap a bear in Line Creek Stock Camp that ate all the food a group of campers brought with them. The bear also ate an entire bag of dog food.

The sightings have prompted warnings from the St. Joe Ranger District, which anticipates more sightings as hunting season approaches. A poor huckleberry crop has made usually cautious bears bolder, officials said.

Campers are urged to store food, pet food, cooking and dishwashing equipment in cars. Rangers also recommend that campers sleep as far as 175 feet upwind from their cooking area.

Backcountry campers should store food in plastic bags away from sleeping areas.

“If you eliminate the food sources, you eliminate the bear problems,” said John LeVesque, a state fish and game officer.