OUTDOOR OUTTAKES

Wilderness Privacy, Lance Has New Teammate But Says No to Politics, Bear People Sour on Bike Paths

By Bill Schneider, 8-17-05

No Hope for Privacy. Be sure to check around next time you need to use the wilderness potty. Big Brother might be watching. Privacy a thing of the past, even for wildlife, because a new breed of photographers can monitor how people and animals behave in the backcountry. Like paparazzi of the wildlife world, a group of Alberta researchers is using heat-sensing cameras mounted on trees to surreptitiously snap photos of anyone and anything.

Each time film is developed, says Michael Quinn, project coordinator and
environmental scientist with the University of Calgary, "It's like Christmas." Danah Duke, the project's co-investigator, jumps in: "It's a free-for-all."

Last summer, during more than 60,000 hours of monitoring, more than 700
photos of wildlife and almost 2,000 of people were taken. Some photos show people and animals avoiding each other by minutes. This year, one camera picked up five different grizzly bears in the same spot within five days. "I'm amazed there isn't more conflict," Prof. Quinn says.

The cameras, dubbed "deer cams" by hunters, are in watertight plastic boxes positioned on both wildlife and man-made trails. By the end of this summer, the researchers will be monitoring 80 to 90 locations around the clock.

Already the researchers have identified a hotbed of grizzly activity in an area that may need to be closed in order to protect the public and the bears. They have also found that the unobtrusive cameras, which most other animals ignore, fascinate deer and elk. They have also found that animals of all kinds avoid using trails on the weekends when there's an influx of nature lovers. "It shows the animals are making decisions to avoid human contact," Prof. Quinn says.

Last year, four cameras were stolen. This year, one has been tampered with
and film has been taken from another. One can only imagine what was on that film!

Lance on New Team? Seven-time Tour winner Lance Armstrong joined President George W. Bush for a mountain bike ride at Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas last weekend. Armstrong, who retired from cycling a month ago, told ABC's This Week, "It's a dream scenario for me. Now that President Bush doesn't run anymore, he rides his mountain bike fanatically. People wonder why he stays at the ranch so long, it might be the mountain bike trails."

Armstrong cautioned that it wasn't expecting a relaxing ride. "I know people who have ridden with him," said Armstrong. "I can tell you he's one very competitive guy. Very competitive, there's no talking. A few minutes of warm-up time, a little chitchat, then you go."

Bush gave up running a few years ago due to a knee injury, but the 59 year-old likes to keep fit. He also rode with a group of journalists last Saturday, and told USA Today, "I love exercise. Prior to learning about mountain biking, I was a jogger. And then, like a lot of baby boomers, my knees gave out. I believe that mountain biking is going to be an outlet for a lot of people my age. I'm 59, and people are going to realize you get as much aerobic exercise—if not more—exercise on the mountain bike without being hobbled."

Bush added that he was trying to encourage overweight and unfit Americans to exercise. "What it takes is organization and discipline and setting priorities," said Bush. "And I think exercise ought to be one of the top priorities for Americans."

But No Politics. Despite going mountain biking with President Bush and inviting his Democrat rival John Kerry to his big retirement party in Paris, Armstrong maintains that he is not going into politics, reiterating that the stress and the time away from his family would be too much. That aside, he did offer this comment on the money spent on the US's involvement in Iraq. "As a survivor, I think we would be better spending money on an illness like cancer," he said. Armstrong did indicate in post Tour de France interviews that he might consider a career in politics, but now he says that was “more or less a joke.� We’ll see about that!

No to Bike Paths. The Bear People don’t like a proposal to add bike paths in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park because they could lead to encounters between humans and grizzly bears and further fragment wildlife habitat in the park.

Three bear biologists suggest cyclists would be more likely to surprise a grizzly bear than hikers because bikes move at higher speeds. "The bottom line is grizzly bears are there, and they need to be taken into account," said Dave Moody of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. "You just can't blow it off.�

The National Park Service is seeking public comment through August 25 on a draft transportation plan that calls for building a new system of multiuse pathways in the park. The NPS’s preferred alternative would build 23 miles of pathways, separated by 50 feet to 150 feet from roads, in the southern end of the park.

Bear biologists said location not total miles of pathways are their biggest concern. 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.

Sterling Miller is a senior wildlife biologist with the National Wildlife Federation, recalled one incident in Alaska when a grizzly chased a cyclist down a paved bike path in Anchorage. “These things are very rare, but they do happen."

"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. "It's always best when you're in grizzly habitat to avoid circumstances where you will startle a bear." He also warned that taxpayer money could be wasted if a pathway has to be closed later due to wildlife-human conflicts.

Parks Canada has faced such a dilemma with mountain bikers and bears on the Moraine Lake Highline Trail. 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 Alberta's Banff National Park.

The consultant 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 of Alberta found that 85 percent of riders reported being unaware of the bear's presence until within 165 feet of the bear.

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

All three bear biologists stressed that bears are likely to be more startled by humans on bikes and on foot than by passing automobiles, which are more predictable. In addition, the biologists emphasized, a separated bike path would fragment wildlife habitat and displace animals to a greater degree than concentrating human activity next to the road.

The bike path plan is part of park's overall transportation plan, which is now open for a 60-day public review. The full document is online by clicking here Public comments may be submitted through August 25. Mail comments to: Superintendent, Grand Teton National Park, c/o Transportation Plan Draft EIS, P.O. Drawer 170, Moose, WY 83012. For further information, call 303-739-3410. Comments may also be submitted directly to the Park website by clicking here.

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