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Experts: Paths could boost bear conflicts
Biologists say putting network closer to road could minimize risks.

By Rebecca Huntington

Building separated bike paths in Grand Teton National Park could lead to more dangerous encounters between humans and grizzly bears and further fragment wildlife habitat in the park, bear biologists warn.

A state, federal and independent bear biologist all suggested cyclists would be more likely to surprise a grizzly bear than hikers because bikes move at much higher speeds. The risk of increasing bear-human encounters would be greatest in areas where thick vegetation blocks visibility, they said.

"The bottom line is grizzly bears are there, and they need to be taken into account," said Dave Moody, trophy game coordinator for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. "You just can't blow it off ­ we've got documented bear distribution down to Jenny Lake."

The National Park Service is seeking public comment through Aug. 25 on a draft transportation plan that calls for building a new system of multiuse pathways in Teton park. The park's preferred alternative would build 23 miles of pathways, separated from 50 feet to 150 feet from roads, in the southern end of the park. Cycling advocates are pushing for 50 miles of pathways while conservationists want only 19 miles built.

Location is top concern

Bear biologists said their biggest concern would not be mileage but the pathways location. Risks of bear-human conflicts could be minimized if bike paths were built right next to roads, where bears already anticipate human activity, the biologists said. In contrast, the potential for surprise run-ins would increase in areas where pathways would be separated from roads by thick vegetation, the biologists warned.

"Those places can have dramatic impacts in increasing encounter frequencies," said Chris Servheen, grizzly bear recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

That concern has prompted Servheen to take the unusual step of writing a personal letter to the Park Service, he said Tuesday. As grizzly bear recovery coordinator for the federal wildlife agency, Servheen has spent the past decade trying to reduce human-bear conflicts to restore the threatened species.

"The solution to this is not to say no bike pathways," he said. "The solution is put them right next to the roadways."

Paths are good public policy

Likewise, bear biologist Steerling Miller said bike paths are generally a good public policy move, which can benefit wildlife by concentrating human use in one area as opposed to dispersed visitation.

But design is key, he said, echoing the suggestion to keep pathways close to roads. Separated pathways would be appropriate in open country, where cyclists and wildlife can see long distances, but not in timbered or thickly vegetated areas, he said.

Miller is a senior wildlife biologist with the National Wildlife Federation and past president of the International Association for Bear Research and Management. Miller, who studied grizzlies for 21 years in Alaska, recalled one incident when a grizzly chased a cyclist down a paved bike path in Anchorage.

"These things are very rare, but they do happen," he said. "It's always best when you're in grizzly habitat to avoid circumstances where you will startle a bear."

Servheen also warned that taxpayer money could be wasted if a pathway is poorly designed and has to be closed later due to wildlife-human conflicts.

Indeed, Parks Canada has faced just such a dilemma on the Moraine Lake Highline Trail ­ albeit with mountain bikers. A private consultant recommended seasonal closures during berry season after three aggressive encounters between grizzly bears and cyclists were reported on the trail near Lake Louise in Banff National Park. The consultant also concluded that cyclists were more likely to have aggressive encounters with grizzlies than hikers since three out of four encounters reported during 1997 and 1998 involved mountain bikers even though more hikers used the trail.

In addition, a survey of 41 mountain bikers who had interactions with both black and grizzly bears in the Calgary-Canmore region in Canada found that 85 percent of riders reported being unaware of the bear's presence until within 50 meters of the bear.

Moody pointed to the grizzly bear attack of a mountain biker last summer on a trail near Brooks Lake on Togwotee Pass as evidence the Greater Yellowstone Area is not immune from such conflicts.

The three bear biologists also stressed that bears are likely to be more startled by humans on bikes and on foot than passing automobiles, which are more predictable.

In addition, a separated bike path would fragment wildlife habitat and displace animals to a greater degree than concentrating human activity next to the road, the biologists stressed.

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