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August 15, 2009
Greetings,
Bears at South Cumberland? All the signs say yes!
MONTEAGLE -- August 15, 2009 The Friends of South
Cumberland Board met today for our scheduled quarterly meeting.
Park Manager John Christof advised the board that a local property
owner's game feeding stand photographed a black bear not too far from
the Collins Gulf entrance to the park. Ranger George Shinn advised
that he and other rangers have seen bear scat, tracks and other signs in
Collins Gulf, along the Connector Trail and in the vicinity of Hobbs
Cabin within the past week. It appears that there might be three
different animals.
Camping and cooking in bear country, and storing a food cache, requires
different safety precautions than normal backpacking and camping.
The most common close encounters between bears and people in the
wilderness almost all relate to the presence of food.
The National Park Service has an excellent write up here related to
bears and bear behavior in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.
http://www.nps.gov/grsm/naturescience/black-bears.htm
If you see a bear at South Cumberland during your visit, please report
the time and location to a Ranger.
Ranger George Shinn is presently talking with other Tennessee state
parks who have bears and I expect South Cumberland will have some
written guidelines and recommendations in the very near future.
September Activities Are Online
Planned activities at the Park for August are now online
http://www.friendsofscsra.org/activities.htm#sept
Best wishes,
Ron
Castle
Webmaster & Board Member
Friends
of South Cumberland State Recreation Area, Inc.
South Cumberland State Park
11745 US 41
Monteagle, Tennessee 37356-7609 USA
Visitor
Center & Park Headquarters 931 924-2980
Park
Headquarters FAX 931 924-2956
Stone Door Ranger Station 931 692-3887
Savage Gulf Ranger Station 931 779-3532
Ron's
Phone 931.962.8665
roncastle@roncastle.com
Skype
ID roncastle
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