TONGASS
NATIONAL FOREST UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE-FOREST SERVICE
News Release
Contact: Julie Speegle
E-mail: jspeegle@xxxxxxxxx
Phone: 907-723-3304
Date: Sept. 18, 2009
Forest Service closes Glacier Spur Road after bear encounter
Juneau, AK – The U.S. Forest Service has issued a closure order for Glacier Spur Road, after an encounter with a bear sow this afternoon. A Forest Service employee sprayed the bear with pepper spray after it lunged at him.
Acting District Ranger Barbara Adams said as a safety precaution, the road which leads to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center and trails in the vicinity will be closed from 8 p.m. this evening, and will reopen at 8 a.m. Saturday morning.
The closure will give the bear some time and space to cool off after what must have been a negative experience for her.
Adams said the sow and her cubs encountered groups of tourists on the Trail of Time at about 2 p.m. this afternoon. The sow popped her jaws at the tourists, at which time the tourists alerted a Forest Service employee. Several Forest Service employees used blasts from a horn to separate the bear from the tourists. At one point, the bear lunged at an employee, and the employee deployed pepper spray at the bear in defense.
The bear and her cubs both retreated from the area at that time. There were no injuries to either the bears or the humans.
After consultation with Alaska Department of Fish and Game, officials on the Tongass National Forest decided to close both the road and nearby trails this evening as a safety precaution, and to allow the bear a cooling off period.
Forest Service officials want to remind the public that feeding bears is illegal, and food is not allowed in the visitor center area, or on the surrounding trails.
For more information, contact Public Affairs Officer Julie Speegle at 907-723-3304.
Attachment:
090918_bear_encounter_rd_closure.doc
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