Back in the day, Yellowstone Rangers encouraged feeding bears. The spectacle of feeding bears garbage arose somewhat by accident. In the late 1880’s, as hotels arose around Yellowstone, bears began hanging around hotel garbage dumps. By 1900, bears were more popular than Old Faithful. For a while, people fed bears and bears loved it. Eventually, the incidents and injuries added up. In 1960, the Park implemented a bear management program. This plan expanded visitor education about bear behavior and the proper way to store food. Feeding bears was prohibited, but dumps were still accessible to bears. Eventually, in 1970, the open-pit garbage dump was eliminated. Since then, we’ve continued to be smarter about our approach to bears, overall and within the parks.
Here’s some vintage footage for your Sunday:
Â
