Be Bear Aware
Black bears inhabit the Sawtooth National Forest. Seeing a bear at a distance can be a wonderful experience, but having one at your campsite can be a problem. When bears learn that campers and campground garbage containers are food sources, they may become nuisance animals which need to be removed for public safety. A fed bear is a dead bear.
If a bear enters your campsite or nearby area, back out of the area slowly and calmly. Do not run, don’t gather your food up, or approach the bear. If the bear approaches, continue to face the bear, and slowly back away. If the bear continues to approach, try to scare it away by shouting and taking an aggressive stance.
Bear Etiquette in Camp
A black bear sniffs around a bear-resistant dumpster where forest visitors had previously left garbage stacked on the ground when the dumpster was full.
Photo Credit: Idaho Fish and Game- Always keep a clean camp.
- Select a campsite way from animal trails, thick brush and bear food sources such as berry patches and fish spawning streams.
- Store coolers in hard sided locked vehicle and cover them. Keep food, cooking equipment, garbage and other scented items such as toothpaste, insect repellant hidden in a locked hard-sided vehicle, bear resistant containers or by hanging at least 10 feet of the ground and four feet out from a tree.
- Clean fish and game away from campsites. Dispose of waste in bear secure dumpsters.
- Secure dumpsters properly after using them. Shutting the lid is not enough, make sure latch is closed properly or use the bars or chains provided.
- Keep garbage stored with food or take immediately to the bear resistant dumpster at the campground. If the dumpster is full, find another receptacle or pack out your garbage.
- Do not leave food, beverages or coolers unattended. In the backcountry set up your sleeping area 300 feet or more from your food storage and cooking/eating areas.
- Keep sleeping bags and personal gear free of odors.
Food Storage Requirements
The Sawtooth National Recreation Area has implemented a Food Storage Order, which requires that:
- Food must be actively attended while transporting, preparing and eating it.
- All attractants must be stored in a locked bear-resistant container, hard-sided residence or building, or a closed vehicle constructed of solid, non-pliable material or
- Suspended at least 10 feet clear of the ground at all points and 4 feet horizontally from supporting tree or pole.
- Animal carcasses must be acceptably stored or located at least 100 yards away from any camping or sleeping area or National Forest System Trail unless it is being eaten, being prepared for eating or being transported.
- Bear Attractants include food, toiletries, cosmetics, livestock feed and animal carcasses; examples such as soft drinks, alcoholic beverages, canned foods, pet foods, processed livestock feed and grains, personal hygiene products, and empty food and beverage containers.
Food Storage Frequently Asked Questions
There have been multiple incidents involving bears feeding on human food, trash, and other attractants, such as cooking waste and toiletries, when visitors were absent from camp or sleeping. Incidents involving visitors feeding bears intentionally have also been documented. Once rewarded, bears can become more emboldened, escalating the potential for adverse encounters with visitors. Bears that become food-conditioned through human carelessness become dangerous to people and are often euthanized in defense of human safety and property. A food storage order allows the Sawtooth National Recreation Area to more effectively manage food, garbage, and attractants in bear country to reduce human/bear encounters. The Forest Service works in close coordination with Idaho Department of Fish and Game on bear management issues, and they support a food storage order. Food storage practices are necessary to protect both humans and bears.
Food and refuse means any substance — liquid, solid, or refuse — that is or may be eaten or otherwise taken into the body to sustain health or life, provide energy, or promote growth of any person or animal. Examples include:
- soft drinks,
- alcoholic beverages,
- canned foods,
- pet foods,
- processed livestock feed and grains,
- personal hygiene products,
- empty food and beverage containers,
- animal carcasses, or
- any parts of a dead animal.
The only liquids and solids excluded in the order are water, baled hay, or hay cubes without additives.
The Order will affect you if you are visiting the Sawtooth National Recreation Area outside of designated wilderness areas anytime between the Saturday before Memorial Day through Labor Day. Visitors are required to store your food and attractants in a manner that is bear resistant whenever those items are unattended. Bear resistent storage means storing those items:
- in a closed, hard-sided vehicle constructed of solid, non-pliable material;
- in a certified bear-resistant container;
- in a hard-sided residence or building; or
- suspended at least 10 feet clear of the ground at all points and 4 feet horizontally from supporting tree or pole.
These storage methods must be used during the night and when no one is attending the food or attractants.
While grills are not specifically mentioned in the order, we do recommend that grills be stored in a bear-resistant manner.
Many on-line and local outdoor stores carry certified bear-resistant storage products. Check the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee website (http://igbconline.org/certified-products-list/) for an updated list of certified bear-resistant storage products.
It depends. If your cooler is a type certified by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee as bear-resistant and is properly closed you can store food and attractants in it (http://igbconline.org/certified-products-list/). If your cooler is stored in a hard-sided vehicle or bear-resistant structure you can store food in it.
Relocation really doesn’t work in most cases. Research suggests that adult bears almost always return to their former ranges and generally do so within a month, regardless of the distance they are moved. Translocated bears can also experience considerable stress associated with locating new food sources, security, bedding and denning sites within the release area, potentially affecting their survival. Placing a bear in habitat used by other bears may lead to competition and social conflict and result in the injury or death of the less dominant bear. Lastly moving a bear that is habituated to human food to a new location just moves the problem.
You should not feed birds or any wildlife while visiting the Sawtooth National Forest.