MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, Wyo. – To protect bears and increase visitor safety, Yellowstone National Park (YNP) will create a new 16,453 acre Hayden Valley bear management area (BMA), and decommission an existing BMA in the Firehole River area to provide recreation opportunities.
Yellowstone wildlife biologists establish BMA’s in locations where grizzly bears are known to seasonally concentrate because of a high density of elk and bison carcasses. In these areas, certain recreational activities may be limited at specific times of year to reduce encounters between bears and humans.
The new Hayden Valley BMA will be located on the west side of the Grand Loop Road in the central part of the park. Mary Mountain Trail will remain open for recreational travel; however, off-trail travel will not be allowed from July 15 through Sept. 15.
According to YNP, Hayden Valley provides prime habitat for grizzly bears, especially during the summer when high concentrations of bears can be found scavenging on bison carcasses. Park biologists observed as many as 23 individual grizzly bears on a single bison carcass. Since 1970, eight of the last 10 grizzly bear-inflicted human injuries (bites to fatalities) in Hayden Valley occurred in the area that will be the Hayden Valley BMA.
Additionally, Yellowstone decommissioned the 20,670-acre Firehole BMA, located in the west side of the park, due to fewer ungulate carcasses and wildlife conflicts occurring in this area. The public will now have access to Midway Geyser Basin Overlook, Fairy Falls and Mystic Falls trails, which were previously closed to all recreational access between March 10 and the Friday of Memorial Day weekend.
Learn more about BMA’s at Bear Management.
