Smarter than your Average Bear
Learning how to coexist with grizzlies in northeast Washington
When I tell most people that I work on grizzly bear conservation in Washington, they’re surprised. “I didn’t know we had grizzlies. Isn’t that just a Montana thing?” Washington does have grizzly bears, but the two populations in our state are so small that you can forgive people for not knowing. However, if you travel to the very northeast corner of Washington, people there know exactly who their neighborhood bruins are.
The Selkirk mountains in northeast Washington extend into the Idaho panhandle and British Columbia, and they are home to a small (but growing!) population of grizzly bears. Over the last several years, grizzly bear sightings have become more common in the region, and while that’s great news for recovery efforts, it can mean more conflicts between bears and people.
To help prevent conflicts from starting in the first place, Defenders of Wildlife has been working on several projects in the region, including providing bear spray and bear awareness trainings. Last week, Quinn (Northwest Director), Leigh Anne (Communications Associate), and I traveled to the Selkirks where, with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, we provided four training sessions for the Kalispel Tribe, Pend Oreille County Public Works, Pend Oreille County Fire and Rescue, and a group of 4-H students. These trainings taught people how to tell the difference between black bears and grizzly bears, how to recreate responsibly in bear country, and (most importantly) how to use bear spray!
Bear spray is the most important tool you can carry in bear country. Research has shown that bear spray deterred aggressive bears in 98 percent of recorded cases, making it a more effective deterrent than guns. Plus, using bear spray keeps bears alive, which is important for small populations, like the one in the Selkirks. Like all things, practice makes perfect. We gave participants inert, practice cans so they could get the feel for using bear spray and be comfortable and confident if they were ever faced with a situation where they would need to deter an aggressive bear.
After these trainings, Defenders donated 100 cans of bear spray to the Kalispel Natural Resources Department and Pend Oreille County Public Works so their employees will have bear spray with them while on the job. These people are often in the field, responding to wildlife conflict or maintaining rural infrastructure. This puts them in bear country frequently. By carrying bear spray, these government employees are keeping themselves safe and setting an example for the rest of the community about the importance of being bear aware.
And thanks to a donation from the bear spray company County Assault, each can of bear spray came with a donated holster, which are a convenient way to keep bear spray easily accessible. It won’t do you any good at the bottom of a bag!
What happens if you accidentally spray your hiking companion? Thanks to a new protocol developed by the Washington State University Pend Oreille County Extension Office, our participants learned how to respond to a bear spray misfire. A tip is to carry a saline solution to help you wash out eyes! You should also never rub your eyes (even though you’ll want to) — doing so will only rub the bear spray into your eyes more. Do lean forward so that the wash drips out of your eyes and onto the ground, instead of down your face and body; then keep your eyes open so they dry out!
Before heading home, we stopped at a Waste Transfer Station in the county. Without a landfill in Pend Oreille County, people will bring their own trash and recycling to these transfer stations, sorting them into dumpsters that will later be picked up and hauled to a landfill further south. Trash, though, is a big attractant for bears, which is why we’re supporting the county’s efforts to full fence their Waste Transfer Stations. This will keep bears out of the trash and away from people.
At the end of our trip, I was blown away by how excited people were to come to our trainings and learn about how they can coexist with grizzly bears, such as by enrolling in our electric fence incentive program. This community loves being in grizzly country! You can see it everywhere: The local high school mascot is “the griz.” Grizzly bears are used on business signs, logos, and art. People here are serious about coexisting with bears and wildlife. As one resident told me, “I think everyone understands that we share the woods with bears. It’s how we do this successfully that really makes the difference.”
- Robb
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