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Bear scares have prompted the U.S. Forest Service to close two northern Utah campgrounds this week.
The moves were precautionary, but it is a situation that may play out increasingly this summer. Wildlife officials say a population surge of younger bears is now striking out on its own in what is expected to a lean, dry summer.
A heightened awareness has swept the state since a black bear snatched 11-year-old Samuel Ives from his tent Sunday night at an American Fork Canyon camp and killed him. The boy's family criticized the Forest Service for not doing more to warn the public about the killer bear's activity earlier that day at the primitive camping area.
Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. said that wildlife officials handled last weekend's fatal bear attack ''by the book.'' But he added that improvements may be needed and said he will direct wildlife officials to review bear policy and procedures.
"The books that we have used may be somewhat anachronistic," Huntsman said. "Maybe we have to update the book. We will do everything necessary to save human life."
With high valley temperatures driving people into the cool mountains, many Utahns wonder if the forests are safe. Meanwhile, state wildlife and forest service officials are reviewing their policies for handling bear-human conflicts that are likely to continue as long as bears forage for food around people.
"Obviously, we feel awful about what happened," Kevin Bunnell, mammals program coordinator for the state Division of Wildlife Resources, said Wednesday. "Everybody here had a knot in their stomach for three days."
Bunnell said an autopsy of the 250-350-pound bear that mauled the Pleasant Grove boy showed nothing unusual. Wildlife officers killed the bear Monday with a bullet to the neck.
"From what they could tell, it was a healthy, male adult black bear," he said.
In the Uinta National Forest, officials closed the Blackhawk Campground after confirming reports that a nuisance bear tried to get into a dumpster. The campground is on the Nebo Scenic Byway, about 76 miles from Salt Lake City, and in the same national forest where Ives was killed.
A trap set up Tuesday was sprung but empty, so wildlife officials set it up again on Wednesday. Uinta National Forest spokeswoman Loyal Clark said the campground will remain closed until the bear is captured.
She said Ives' death Sunday night did not trigger the closure.
"But we are sensitive to the fact that a fatality occurred, and it was a young boy," Clark said. "We do have that on our minds."
David Ream, recreation manager for the Kamas District of the Wasatch-Cache National Forest, said a returning bear caused his office to close the Ledgefork Campground above the Smith and Morehouse Reservoir about 45 miles east of Salt Lake City in the Uinta Mountains.
Last week, the campground was closed for a few days, and it was closed again Monday when the bear returned. The Division of Wildlife Resources set up two traps.
"It's going to remain closed until we catch the bear or the Division of Wildlife Resources tells us it's OK to open it again," Ream said.
He noted that bears have been ranging farther and wider this year because of dry conditions. "Bears are out looking for food," he said.
Bunnell, the state wildlife officer, also explained that a small boom of yearling bears has just been evicted from their dens. An unusually high number of sows had babies last year, and an unusually high number of those young survived through their first year.
Now it's time for them to set up their own households and feed themselves, just as 18-year-old humans might do.
"They're looking for a place to call home," he said.
Campgrounds become convenience stores and fast-food joints for many of these bears, especially when campers make scraps, garbage and coolers full of food available to the young bears. And once the quick-learning bears find out that people bring food, they are likely to make a habit of visiting the places where humans hang out.
Wildlife officials are fond of saying, "A fed bear is a dead bear," because bears that frequent campsites frequently become a danger and must be destroyed.
"If this season turns out to be hot and dry," said Bunnell, "we'll continue to have bear problems in July and August" as the competition increases for limited natural foods.
Erin O'Connor, spokeswoman for the Forest Service's Intermountain Region, which includes all six Utah national forests, said her agency will be working with the state on its bear-policy review.
"It is standard practice for the forest services, after any incident, to review and evaluate our policies, and this tragic incident is no exception," she said. "And, if we need to make changes, we will do so."
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* GLEN WARCHOL contributed to this story.