[azdesertfather]

Black bear activity forces campground closure
Jul. 16, 2009 08:20 PM
Associated Press
TUCSON - Black bear activity has forced the U.S. Forest Service to temporarily close the Reef Campground in southern Arizona's Huachuca Mountains.

The campground is expected to be closed for two weeks beginning Friday.

Rangers will be cleaning up the campground and removing food and other garbage that has attracted hungry bears.

Sierra Vista District Ranger Annette Chavez says by closing the area for a short time, the bears will move on.

[joe bartels]

I wish they'd release a large amount of black bears in the Huachuca's to help weed out some of the undocumented travelers.

[dysfunction]

weren't brown bears once indigenous?

[Jim Lyding]

Grizzly bears are indigenous to Arizona, but the last known specimen was killed around 1935 or so. See David E. Brown's 'The Grizzly in the Southwest.'

[azbackpackr]

Oh, thanks, I should look for that book. Also check out Aldo Leopold's Sand County Almanac, the essay entitled "Escudilla."

Incidentally, anyone who's interested in the contributions of Aldo Leopold might be interested in the Aldo Leopold Centennial Celebration, to be held in Nutrioso in early September:

http://leopoldcentennial.org/index.html

[Jim Lyding]

Brown also wrote 'The Wolf in the Southwest,' and (co-wrote) 'Borderland Jaguars.'

From one of my favorite photosets:
http://hikearizona.com/phoZOOM.php?ZIP=83227

[rk_az]

I wish they'd release a large amount of black bears in the Huachuca's to help weed out some of the undocumented travelers.

Bears are already numerous in the Huachucas I'm sure. Unfortunately they are not much of a threat to humans. I think they need more jaguars...

[big_load]

Except for the Rincons, AZ bears seem less habituated than anywhere else in the lower 48. Those Saguaro East bears are almost as pesky as Jersey bears, but smaller and more polite. Maybe the Huachuca bears have are catching on, too.

[Ckzona]

Yeh supposedly a couple years ago Grizzlies were considered to be reintroduced to the Escudilla MOuntain area.

[Jim Lyding]

Unfortunately I don't think there's been a snowball's-chance-in-hell of grizzlies being reintroduced in the Escudilla area, or anywhere else in the Southwest, since the 1930s when the last known specimens were taken. It will probably never happen.
Bearing Down on jaguars being re-established in AZ.....

[azbackpackr]

Escudilla area isn't big enough. No area near here really is, except maybe the Gila Wildnerness. There are people living all around Escudilla, and it's not a particularly large wild area.

I once asked a manager of G&F in Lakeside what he thought about that, after all the controversy he'd had to deal with over the wolf re-entry program. He said, "If they decide to release grizzlies, I'm retiring!"

Anyway, that's just a lot of hot air. I've heard it, too, off and on. It ain't gonna happen.

[Ckzona]

I can definetly understand on how that would be a hard project. Yeh we have a lot of large areas of forest for them (for example just the White MOuntains) but there is always a few towns and what not in the area. Blue Range Primative Area could be a spot so could the Fort Apache Indian Area but i know most likely it would not happen. People would just be very worried and what not. The wolf reintroduction alot of people did not like the idea. I loved that they did that though. ITs great that the population is increasing slowly but steadily