During the first week of March, grizzly bears in Yellowstone National Park begin to emerge from their winter dens. Sightings begin to be reported, as bears look for food. As such, Yellowstone visitors are asked to be alert for signs of their activity.

Park regulations require visitors to stay at least one hundred yards – the length of a football field – away from black and grizzly bears at all times. The best defense, according to the park service, is to stay a safe distance from bears and use binoculars, telescope, or telephoto lens to get a closer look.

Yellowstone’s bear management policy (AKA bear closures) is to ensure a natural and free-ranging population of black and grizzly bears and to help prevent human/bear conflicts. Prior to hiking, skiing, or snowshoeing, ask park personnel at visitor centers for dates and locations of bear closures. Then travel in groups of three or more, make noise on the trail, and keep an eye out for bears.

Bears will aggressively defend a food source, especially when surprised. As such, visitors should not approach a bear under any circumstances. An encounter with a bear feeding increases the risk of personal injury. If a bear charges, a person’s reactions, in most cases, can help to defuse the situation. Bear pepper spray is a good last line of defense. Visitors are encouraged to take time to become familiar with bear pepper spray, the safety trigger, and holster; to carefully read the instructions and be aware of its limitations. The spray must be immediately available, so keep it close and not buried in a pack. For those who don’t bother to read instructions:

• Bear pepper spray is not to be applied as a repellent
• It is to be sprayed at a charging or attacking bear that is within 10 to 40 feet
• Wind, cold temperatures and the product’s age can adversely affect the spray
• Carrying bear pepper spray is not a substitute for vigilance and good safety precautions

For those who believe they are an exception to the “don’t’ feed the animals” rule, human foods are one of the chief culprits in the creation of problem bears. Bears' conditioning to groceries, garbage or intentional feeding, and habituation to people may lead to their causing human injury and property damage and occasionally require their destruction. Visitors are reminded to keep food, garbage, barbecue grills, and other attractants stored inside or stored in hard sided vehicles or bear-proof food storage boxes. This helps keep bears from becoming conditioned to human foods, and helps keep park visitors and their property safe. Visitors are encouraged to talk with park staff who can explain how to bear-proof food.

Bear sightings should be reported to the nearest visitor center or ranger station as soon as possible.

Located in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana, Yellowstone National Park, is just 50 miles to the north of Jackson, Wyoming. It became the first National Park in the United States on March 1st, 1872. Within the boundaries of the park is the largest thermal caldera on the planet. Many hot springs and geysers are active on a daily and even hourly basis, including possibly the most famous geyser of all - Old Faithful.