No food allowed at Mendenhall Glacier visitor center
Published Saturday, June 7, 2008
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Stumble It!JUNEAU -- Planning a trip to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center? Here's something you should know: leave your food and beverages behind.
The Juneau attraction has imposed a food ban to protect both people and black bears. Water, however, is allowed.
The center has become a popular bear viewing area.
Center officials say that if bears make a connection between food and humans, they become less fearful and may approach people.
The no-food policy covers the two public parking lots, sidewalks, observation platforms, bus shelters, Steep Creek trail, Photo Point trail and beach areas.
The food ban will remain until the bears leave in the fall.
Community Discussion
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So glad Big Brother has my back.
You are so right. Back off Forest Service parents and kids have been using this area forever on rare sunny days! You know, these folks are way too intrusive in too many ways.
Use some common sense, we don't need big brother telling us how to manage our lives! This is going way too far.
I'm beginning to appreciate Joe Vogler even more. Posey sniffing idiots.
actually, sounds like a smart idea. remember, alot of these people visiting there are tourists. what do they know about bear etiquette?
Uhhh, folks: Mendenhall glacier visitor's center is nothing but a tourist traffic jam in the summer. Tourons like to get up-close and personal with the bears... And many tourons think feeding Yogi and BooBoo is so much fun. I've seen the fools who think the bear behind the center must be tame so why not walk right up and get a great photo. Maybe throwing it some of the goodies out of the touron's purse would make it come closer and THAT would be a great photo... Bear now has put 2 and 2 together and realized how a meal can be procurred whilst waiting for the salmon to fill the creek. Now, I'm not against tourons being eaten; I just don't want bears getting offed because they learn humans have and are good food.
Besides which, the amount of litter from the bus riding hordes is out of hand all summer, and most of it is food related.
Don't worry, you'll be able to go back to picnicking once the tourons leave. In the meantime, go over to Skater's. You don't really want to be out there at the glacier with the summer hordes anyway, do you????
Well you obviously don't have kids. We've been using the shallow pools to the east of the turons for years. It's where parents bring the kids on those too few fine days. Now we'll have the green shirted gestapo telling us to not have snacks for our kids.
Maybe I'm wrong, but perhaps they don't want us there. I'll be contacting officials on Monday to voice my displeasure towards the food gestapo.
Why should we give up a tradition because of tourists? This place is for us too!
How can we not feed the bears? And yet the enviro-nuts want help with the white-colored bears! Make up OUR minds OK!
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