Smokies lawsuit

“Well, this is interesting to find out...the family of the lady killed by 2 bears last May in Smoky Mtn. NP is suing the park service for millions. Seems there were reports of these two bears as a problem weeks before the mauling. Sure makes me feel good...my family and I camped at Elkmont Campground one day after the mauling. I hope we find out what the park service knew or did not know about these bears' history of approaching people...”

“I hope that the Adirondack Park people hear about this. When I asked them if they were taking any precautions when the bear sit. became really bad two years ago, they just answered that the bears live here and we don't. Excellent sentiments and I can take care of myself, but...”

“this is a real touchy issue. we have done alot to bring back wildlife in areas where they were in decline. we fine people for feeding wild animals. when wild animals do what they do naturally can we blame them. WE need to take precautions and learn how to handle encounters with wild animals. even if we do everything right there will allways be situations.

my wife and i actually camped one week before the mauling at camp #24 and #23. we hiked the sugarland area, the elkmont area etc. we saw lots of bear signs and heard some bear noises at night but never saw one.

we have to expect these things occasionally. your still safer in the woods than I95. you can sue them for this. BAD precendent!!!”

“Be Bear Aware!
(they're EVERYWHERE!... thank God)”

“Please, don't feed me!”

“I think this is a tragedy for all the people involved! including the bear population in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. If the tourist would heed the signs and quit feeding the bears then most of these attacks would end but they dont! I live right near there and everytime I go up to the campgrounds some idiot is leaveing food out just to attract the bears so they can take pictures. whats going to end up happening is they will shut down the campgrounds before long. the bears are wild bears, they are not trained circus bears( like I have heard tourists say) they have to find food for there young just like we do and they will take it from easy gettings if they can(why not) but a law suit is the wrong way to go here. this lady was sleeping with her head laying on a day pack full of food . what did they think was going to happen? sheesh cant people get at least a little smart.”

“Stupid is what stupid does.”

“I can't bear this topic!”

“in all my hiking and camping experiences in the smokies over the last 20 years.....Elkmont campground was the only place i encountered a bear in my campsite.....and it is notorious for bear visits......i am sorry for the woman and family..........but if she did have food close by.....hmm bad decision................
i agree with mom and gojo and others above....”

“I camped at Spence Field a couple of weeks after the incident and saw two bears. One of them was not the least bit afraid of me or the other three people with me. We cowered behind the cage in the AT shelter and just let the bruin rome around sniffing in the fire ring and coming up as close as it wished. In retrospect, I have decided the next time I encounter a bear at a campsite I am gonna rock that sucker. They need to learn to be frightned by humans not expect to mozy right up to us and expect to find some easy pickings. To arms...to arms!!”

“I've never had any bear problems in the Smokies, except that I've never been lucky enough to see one!! I camp at Elkmont, maybe I just sleep too soundly. Does anyone else still think there is something odd about the death of the woman? It's the only death from bear attack in the Smokies in over 30years.”

“there have been lawsuits in fl where large gators have attacked children in state parks. if the park staff know of a large gator they do have an obligation to warn. failure to warn is negligence. beyond warning, i personally dont think they should be liable. all parks warn of gators, bears etc., but if they knew of a SPECIFIC bear or gator problem then id say the warning should be a bit more or close an area. but dont mess with the bears etc. they were there first.”

“what ever happened to personal responsibility for one's actions? i really can't see how the NPS is liable and the bears have already paid the ultimate price for their actions.”

“A little 'aversion therapy' might be the best for both species. How about carrying a pack or two of firecrackers in case of a situation like BS's?”

“I've thought about firecrackers. I bet that would work pretty good. The only thing is the mess it causes with all the paper.”

“That's one of the tools the wildlife officials use when they release a problem bear around these parts (at least until they adopted this new draconian 'one strike and your out' policy). I'd be really careful about the fire hazard though.”

“I triped on a rock in Yosemite yesterday. I think that that rock should be removed someone might get hurt. I'm gonna sue!!!

Idiots!”

“There are several facts that'll come up in trial (hopefully it will). It will cost us, the taxpayers, court costs and legal fees, but it'll also cost that dang family the same. Hopefully no legal eagle takes this case for free, in the assumption that the govit will settle early. A man and woman were fly-fishing the area of incident, and exhubby and exwifey. These 2 divorced @ 10 years ago in a very ugly, nasty divorce. This attack story is the exhubby's. Some bit questionable to say the least. They were locals, so knew of bear in the Smokies. The GSMNP knew of a problem bear in the area, and were trying to locate the individual for assessment. The family says that GSMNP rangers knew the bear was a problem bear. Trouble is this: that troublesome bear ain't exactly painted yellow or bright orange or something like that to distinguish exactly which bear is being sought after.

Smokies nuicance bears are not shot with some kind of "one strike you're out", but are relocated to Halifax Country, Albemarle, and a few other counties around NC/VA's Great Dismal Swamp along the coast and lowlands. Generally they come from the Lodge and a couple of the more populated campgrounds. The bears in question naturally had to be shot, due to the fact that the mom and yearly cub had fed on the woman's body. A third bear in question feeding as well, but has no link to the attack. I don't know what the assessment of that bear resulted in.

I think the family has every right to sue for whatever moneys they so choose, but I hope the govit does not concede to an early settlement just to keep the headlines down. If no negligence is found upon the Park Service, I hope they are required to pay the lawyer dawgs for the persuit.

Terribly sad case, but way too many oddities are in this attack to just say "Well she ran, or got between the Mom and cub, or took a nap on it's dead deer."”

“lol @ Thin Air.
It's called Wildlife for a reason. It's not our place to go killing it because it attacked some lady who undoubtedly provoked it. Problem bears should be moved and then if they keep coming back they should be "dealt" with.”

“She used a daypack full of food as a pillow? What an idiot. Some people just need an outdoors course before heading outdoors!!! Too bad about the Smokies lawsuit though...hope they don't get any money from the govt.”

“ditto deathmarch.”

“I still think he killed the lady! then the bear attacted dead meat. but thats just my opinion. I really dont care what the officials say, black bears eat dead meat!”

“Wow, so when is this story going to show up on "All My Children"? You know these bear threads are causing newbies all over the country to rethink their gear purchases. Beer cooler or bear cannister. Swiss pocket knife or machete. Cayenne and rice, or pepper spray. And the bears just want to help us loose weight. But kidding aside, I am trying to learn what I need to know about LNT and preventing bear problems.”

“I camped at Elkmont within a month of the attack. Kind of eerie to hear the rangers talk about it and then go to sleep in my tent.

The only bear I saw that trip was running down the street in Gatlinburg. She could have been jogging downtown and been attacked.

That whole place just kind of sickens me. On my way for some hiking I took the Cades Cove loop. The deer were coming right up to the cars. And the NPS mows the area. If you ask me, they need to shut things like that down. It makes the entire place seem artificial.”

“Lets implement the "Well, Duh" clause into law. It says that any action where somebody can look upon it and say "well, duh" cannot be upheld in court. This would include law suits dealing with warning signs that do not tell you not to trim your hedges with a lawnmower, or to place your ladder on ice. The bear incident clearly falls under the "well, duh" clause.”

“I agree with MOM, I thought that when it happened and haven't changed my mind. I also agree with reformed lurker, the trick is to get as far from Gatlinburg as possible and enjoy the incredible scenery.”

“The bears in the Smoky's are the product of the visitors. People who don't hike or go into the backcountry want to feed the bears and see them upclose. Well this leads to these problems. Maybe they just sue the general public for feeding bears. I really don't think the park is at fault. Bears are wild animals and things happen. I don't think her ex-husband killed her. There may have been something wrong with the bears because the bears there usually just steal your pack or thats what they want don't care about the people unless your are attached to the food.
Bears there have bitten people when feeding them because they ran out of food they were giving them. So they should have been bitten for feeding them in the first place.
Just my thoughts.
I hike there alot have logged several hundred miles and never seen a bear.”

“I think reformed lurker said it best with "it makes the whole thing seem artificial." We, too, drove through Cades Cove and saw docile deer as well as a bear rolling in a field. You'd have thought it was a circus - not the bear but the people were acting like idiots! I don't know what the answer is there but there is an artificial feeling of safety as well.

As to the bear killing, that whole thing seemed fishy from the start. Thanks, naked ape, for some more details. why in the world would these two be hiking together in the first place? Hopefully the truth will come out...”

“YW utahiker, I'm very interested in ALL the details as well. Yeah I fully agree with y'all about the artificial wilderness situation of Cades Cove. In retrospect, the 11 mile loop thru there is mostly for the fat American to window-gaze at what he/she thinks is "wilderness". Go there anytime during the summer and you'll see exactly what I mean. Cades Cove is more or less an extension of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. They're for tourists and not backpackers. I will say on Cades Cove behalf that on occasion one'a these tourists gives money to the park there. As for the deer, they literally will look right into your car window, and the bears are much too complacent about human activity near them. But aside from the occasional Floridian tourist, the bears very rarely get fed along the loop. The campground however does get quite a bit of bear activity, that's where bears can "learn" to be problem. AT LEAST there are no more dang cattle in Cades Cove!! Up until last spring (if memory serves me correctly) there were herds of cattle in the fields there.

And for you interested in a wee bit more of Cades Cove, 25 elk have been released there about mid-April after having spent 3 months acclimating to the grassy valley. The elk, half of whom carried fetal babes, are hoped to have spent the time in holding pens so that mabbe they'll not wander from the valley. We'll see I guess.

Was it reformed lurker that said she could have been killed jogging down a street in G-burg??? That bit'o funny ain't far from the truth actually. The fall before last, the largest male blackbear was shot during bear hunting season, weighing 620 lbs!!!! Summa y'all locals might remember the big stink over the kill, cause the bear wandered into the park before it died (so says the hunter). That year about 450 bear were killed in all of TN, and 2/3's were killed INSIDE the city limits of G-burg!!!

Purdy interstin if ya ask me.”

“Hey I think that stink was over the woman who hired well maybe not hired but gave them the go ahead to shoot the bear.... I hiked that year with a woman who knew that woman. Long story short. That bear had been coming in her yard for years and eating the bird seed and digging up her flowers. She wanted the bear gone so they told her to stop with the bird seed and the bear would not come he was diggin up her flowers and such. This women has lived there all her life and told the hunters about the bear and wanted it gone. Only problem is her yard borders park property. Well I guess the rest is history or maybe that is another bear story?
Barbara”