After handling bear problem, health officials grapple with human interlopers

Health department officials solved a bear problem at one county transfer site, but are now dealing with human interlopers at another.

The bear became a local celebrity of sorts last month after figuring out a way to evade the electrified fence at the Glen Lake location. At the time, officials were unsure how the bear was bypassing the security system, but it was gorging itself on discarded food.

Kathi Hooper, health department director, first raised the problem at the June 10 Lincoln County Board of Commissioners meeting. The bear, although vexing officials tasked with monitoring the site, emerged as a darling of social media. County Commissioner Josh Letcher (D-3) reported the animal had taken a star turn on local Facebook groups.

Hooper told commissioners that at least a few residents had begun leaving food outside of the enclosure for the animal. Officials had contacted a state wildlife management specialist for help trapping the bear.

Hooper did not specify the subspecies.

At the commissioners’ July 8 meeting, Hooper reported that authorities successfully trapped and relocated the bear. The surrounding fence has undergone repairs and is getting upgraded, she told commissioners.

“We are leaving the fence on at all times, we’ve put up signage and the fences will remain electrified during the day,” Hooper said. “[The fence] was just being grounded out and the bear was climbing over it.”

Hooper said the Glen Lake site was one of the department’s oldest, meaning that equipment there was worn down. The well-fed bear had prompted officials to review other sites across the county to identify possible repairs and upgrades.

“We’re doing upgrades in advance of the bears figuring it out,” she said.

While officials were working on the hungry bear, a new problem emerged at the Libby Creek facility. Hooper told commissioners July 8 that people were bypassing the enclosure at that site, either digging holes underneath the fence or cutting right through it.

“There is a tent city going up at the site,” she said. “We’ve notified the sheriff’s office and asked for more patrol out there.”

When County Administrator Patrick McFadden asked whether the goal was securing food, Hooper said many people attempt to salvage discarded objects.

“They do salvage and, occasionally, we find piles where they’re looking for medication. Pill bottles, metal, they take out odds and ends,” Hooper said.

She said her staff had posted cameras at the site in an attempt to deter the scavengers, but the equipment almost immediately is damaged or destroyed.

“It’s just a lot of damage,” Hooper said. “ We have had cameras there before. They have disappeared or been damaged. Sometimes the same day [they are put up].”

Cleaning up after vandals and scavengers does cost county taxpayers, she told commissioners. Department officials expend quite a bit of time and effort into repairing enclosures at the various waste sites.

County Commissioner Mark Peck (D-1) decried the ongoing problem.

“People are just amazing to me. People that vandalize dump sites probably need to just have done to them what their parents should have,” Peck said. “They vandalize everything: Gates, road signs, etc. It’s just — I don’t know.”