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Bear Management Areas (BMA)

5/2/2018

Photo Credit: Yellowstone National Park, 2018

Bear Management Areas (BMA) – In recent days, questions have come about in regard to bear management areas or known as “BMA’s” in Yellowstone National Park.

**This material is subject to change at any time due to new available resources**

Why were they created?
What is the purpose of BMA’s?
Why are some BMA’s restricted access or closed to public?
What criteria defines each BMA?

First, let’s outline the objectives of bear management in Yellowstone. The bear management office in the Yellowstone Center for Resources has several objectives. These include preserving and maintaining the genetic integrity, distribution, and behavior of bear populations in Yellowstone; educating the public and visitors about bear ecology, bear human conflicts, conflict resolution and prevention; making anthropogenic food sources inaccessible; make visitors aware of bear presence, dangers of backcountry recreation and how to react during an encounter or confrontation. Most importantly, in my opinion, they are responsible for providing safe opportunities for visitors to observe and appreciate bear in their natural habitat within Yellowstone National Park.

Why were they created? What is their purpose?

The construction of BMA’s was implemented in Yellowstone in 1983. The specific program restricts visitor and recreational use in areas which have seasonal concentrations of grizzly bears. The main goals of the program are:

Minimize and reduce bear-human interactions which may inherently lead to habituation of bears to people. It is important to recognize the term habituation is different from food-conditioned. However, habituation remains a problem in some settings; as bears fear humans less, it creates a smaller buffer creating a human safety concern. At times, bears that are habituated to humans are removed from the population.
Prevent human caused displacement of bears from prime food resources – an example of this could be backcountry trails that run through stands of whitebark pine, overlap with elk or bison migration (carcass potential), etc.
Decrease the risk of human injury in areas with high levels of bear activity

Those who are performing research in the park in managed areas can gain access through obtaining permission. Additionally, backcountry patrols and monitoring can be carried out in these areas, but are often times kept to a minimum.

What areas are BMA’s and when are they closed? (Fig. 1)

A. Firehole: closed March 10- Friday of Memorial Day weekend

Includes Firehole Freight Road and Firehole Lake Road; Mary Mountain Trail from Nez Perce trailhead to Mary Lake (closed March 10-June 15)
Through travel from Canyon trailhead is not allowed; travel from Canyon trailhead to Mary Lake is permitted
Streamside use is allowed from the point where Nez Perce Creek crosses the main road to appoint one mile upstream along Nez Perce Creek

B. Richard’s Pond: closed March 10 – Friday of Memorial Day weekend

Saturday of Memorial Day weekend through September 30, Duck Creel, from the park boundary upstream to Campanula Creek/Richards Creek fork, is open to streamside travel
Area upstream from Campanula Creek/Richard’s Creek fork is closed from March 10 – September 30

C. Gneiss Creek: closed March 10 – June 30

From July 1 – November 10 travel is allowed only on designated trails (off-trail travel is prohibited)

D. Gallatin: between May 1 – November 10, travel is allowed only on designated trails (off-trail travel is prohibited)

Minimum group size of four or more people is recommended for hiking and camping

E. Blacktail: area is closed March 10 – June 30
F. Washburn: closed from August 1 – November 10

March 10 – July 31, area is open by special permit only

G. Antelope: closed March 10 – November 10

Dunraven Road and related turnouts are open
May 25 – November 10, foot travel is allowed on the old Road Trail from Tower Falls Campground to the Buffalo Picnic Area

H. Mirror Plateau: May 15 – November 10 area is open to day use only

Exception: July 1 – August 14, overnight camping is permitted for a combined total of 14 nights per summer (3O1 and 5P7 campsites)

I. Pelican Valley: closed April 1 – July 3

July 4 – November 10, area is open to day use only between 9:00 am and 7:00 pm

J. Clear Creek: Area J1; April 1 – August 10, travel is only allowed on the east shore from Nine-Mile trailhead to Park Point

All campsites and all other trails are closed and off-trail travel is prohibited
August 11 = all campsites and trails are open and off-trail travel is permitted
Area J2: April 1 – July 14, travel is allowed only on the east shore trail from Park Point to Beaverdam Creek
All other trails closed and off-trail travel is prohibited
Open campsites = 5E3, 5E4, 5E6 and 5E8 (travel away from campsite prohibited)
All other campsites are closed; on July 15, all campsites and trails are open and off-trail travel is permitted

K. Lake Spawn: May 15 – July 14 no off-trail travel allowed and the trail between Cabin Creek and Outlet Creek is closed

Open campsites are: 7L5, 7L6, 7L7, 7M3, 7M4, 6A3, 6B1 (travel away from campsite is prohibited)
July 15 all campsites and trails are open and off trail travel is permitted

L. Two Ocean: March 10 – July 14 & August 22 – November 10 travel is only allowed on designated trails (off-trail travel prohibited)

July 15 – August 21, a permit is required for persons wishing to travel away from designated trails

M. Riddle/Solution: closed April 30 – July 14
N. Grant Village: campground opens June 20 or earlier if bear use of spawning streams is over prior to that time

If bears are still frequenting the spawning streams after June 20 –the campground loops adjacent to the stream(s) will remain closed until bear activity ceases
Campground closes October 16

O. Heart Lake: closed April 1 – June 30

The specific reasons why each of these areas are seasonally restricted or closed varies by location and resources available. Most BMA are in place due to high elk (Fig. 3) and bison density (Fig. 2), or abundance of key resources (i.e. whitebark pine, trout, etc.) (Fig. 4). Please consider areas where bison and elk are present also means calves are available as a food resource. Vegetation is seasonal; one or more types of preferred vegetation can be found within each of the BMA’s. (Fig 1)

Firehole: elk, bison (Firehole has been known for overwintered ungulate carcasses) (Fig. 7)
Richard’s Pond: bison
Gneiss Creek: bison
Gallatin: whitebark pine, elk (Gallatin is largely made up of whitebark pine stands, which grizzlies rely on for pine nuts during hyperphagia)
Blacktail: bison, elk (Blacktail is another area where overwintered carcasses are visited shortly after den emergence)
Washburn: whitebark pine, elk (Washburn is known for its Whitebark pine stands; bears move to higher elevations during summer and fall to feed on pine nuts during successful years)
Antelope: whitebark pine, elk
Mirror Plateau: whitebark pine, bison, elk
Pelican Valley: bison, elk (Pelican Valley is a high use area by grizzly bears; nighttime movements are common, and bison and elk are plentiful)
Clear Creek: cutthroat trout (Cutthroat trout were once a thriving food resource for grizzlies; since the invasive lake trout, bears have moved on to other resources)
Lake Spawn: cutthroat trout, elk
Two Ocean: whitebark pine (Two Ocean is largely made up of whitebark pine stands)
Riddle/Solution: cutthroat trout, elk
Grant Village: cutthroat trout, elk
Heart Lake: whitebark pine, elk

Areas where carcasses are typically greatest in Yellowstone are: Heart Lake, Northern Range (Lamar Valley), Norris Geyser Basin, Mud Volcano, and Firehole River area. Carcasses are more prevalent in these areas because of ungulate migration, movement patterns, and density. The number of carcasses during each year may largely vary according to the previous winter season severity (wolves and other predators also generate ungulate carcasses). Surveys are conducted annually to account for the number of carcasses in the previously listed locations. When carcasses are not available in these areas, bears may seek out vegetation and other food resources which include but are not limited to: oniongrass bulbs, spring beauty corms, earthworms, pocket gophers, ants, grasses, sedges, clover, dandelion, and even geothermal soil; ingestion of geothermal soil assists in restoring mineral deficiencies; high concentrations of potassium, magnesium, sulfur (Mattson et al. 1999).

Grizzlies are omnivore generalists and have great dietary plasticity; they can easily switch to other resources. “Bear” in mind, grizzlies can pick from 170+ different plant species to eat. This also comes with seasonal variation with what plants are available. Just because one disappears, does not necessarily spell out disaster.

Bear management areas (BMA) are a topic of recent conversation. The park is currently exploring options for re-evaluating these areas to better represent changes in use/activity, distribution, and resource availability for grizzlies. Two areas up for consideration are Lamar Valley and Hayden Valley. For years, management has made efforts and attempts to restrict Hayden Valley to “no off-trail travel,” though efforts have failed.

Citations: Gunther, K.A. (1994). Yellowstone National Park: Bear Management Plan. Bear Management Office, Yellowstone Center for Resources, Yellowstone National Park, National Park Service, U.S. Department of Interior.

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