Richard drives home, fights for bears

On Monday, Richard drove home, and Marianne stayed in Durango. Marianne will stay with Eileen for while, duration to be determined.

Monday morning, Richard found a mess around the dumpster at the campground, with trash scattered around, apparently from a bear. He spoke later with the general manager of the campground, who took the position that he could not do anything about it, that the trash companies did not offer locking dumpsters. He said that the Department of Wildlife had relocated four bears so far this year.

The bumper sticker that applies is "Garbage kills bears", since the DOW will relocate a bear once, and kill the bear the second time, under a "two strikes" policy.

Richard thought more about the bear situation, and ended up stopping in Durango to talk to the folks at the visitor center. He called the Department of Wildlife office, angry about the campground failing to do anything, and plans to pursue this matter further.

On Wednesday the 29th Richard spoke to officer Drayton of the DOW. He indicated that the bear problems are widespread this year. He said that he told the campground that they were going to have to do something different next year to stop the bears. I think his view is that the campground is just one of many problems in his area, and that the camping season is coming to an end, so he was not too upset about the campground. I think that I will drop it, but I am still indignant.

Richard