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Judge awards $1.9M to family of boy killed by a black bear

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avatar Judge awards $1.9M to family of boy killed by a black bear
May 04, 2011 12:34PM
A federal judge awards $1.9M to family of a boy killed by a black bear in Utah in 2007. The Forest Service was deemed to be at 65% at fault for the tragedy. The family and the boy were also ruled partially at fault for the attack because they had failed to remove trash and food wrappers from the boy's tent.


SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah federal judge on Tuesday awarded nearly $2 million to the family of an 11-year-old boy killed by a bear at a campsite in 2007. The family of Samuel Ives sued the U.S. Forest Service for failing to close the American Fork Canyon campsite in the mountains about 30 miles south of Salt Lake City after the bear attacked another camper...

AP: Judge awards $1.9M to family of boy killed by bear



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/2011 12:59PM by plawrence.
avatar Re: Judge awards $1.9M to family of boy killed by a black bear
May 04, 2011 02:04PM
Tragic.

I wonder if they have the same bear warnings that seem to be at all the other parks I've visited?

Also, it makes me wonder if people have completely forgotten that wilderness is.. um... WILD.

I used to say "it's not a real adventure if you can sue someone if you get hurt." I may have to revise that.
avatar Re: Judge awards $1.9M to family of boy killed by a black bear
May 04, 2011 04:16PM
This was on Forest Service land, not National Park Service land. I imagine that makes a big difference. The two services have different directives and policies.

Come to think of it, it wasn't in Yosemite, which means the bear patrol and education program at Yosemite wasn't in place. Even within NPS units, Yosemite has an exceptional bear staff. They have a budget for education and bear patrols. Few if any other NPS or FS units do.
avatar Re: Judge awards $1.9M to family of boy killed by a black bear
May 04, 2011 04:56PM
Quote
qumqats
This was on Forest Service land, not National Park Service land. I imagine that makes a big difference. The two services have different directives and policies.

Come to think of it, it wasn't in Yosemite, which means the bear patrol and education program at Yosemite wasn't in place. Even within NPS units, Yosemite has an exceptional bear staff. They have a budget for education and bear patrols. Few if any other NPS or FS units do.

Here's a pretty good article:

http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/article.php?art_id=5541

Tahoe is interesting. Most of the land is Forest Service, but most of the people are on private land. It's a variety of different government and private agencies that deal with bears. The bears certainly have no respect for jurisdictional lines. winking smiley
avatar Re: Judge awards $1.9M to family of boy killed by a black bear
May 04, 2011 04:52PM
I recall this was a dispersed camping situation where sites were well established (maybe even marked?). It was huge news when I made a backpacking trip.

The sense I got was that it should have been a no-brainer to clear these areas with an aggressive bear in the area. I know when the NPS decided to kill a grizzly sow at Glacier NP, they cleared all of the backpackers in the area before they set about it.
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