Bear's death highlights problem

INCLINE VILLAGE -- A month ago, area residents were uttering the phrase "better defensible space awareness" after the devastating Angora fire scorched 3,100 acres of land and destroyed more than 250 homes in South Lake Tahoe.

Officials are hoping a different disaster isn't needed to add the phrase "better bear awareness" to the Incline Village/Crystal Bay resident's vocabulary.

Last week's slaying of a 660-pound black bear in the Rubicon and Freels Peak neighborhoods has turned a summer full of bear sightings in Incline Village into a more serious matter. Not only does it heighten the awareness that there is a potential for danger, but it should teach residents a valuable lesson, officials said.

People should start being more responsible when it comes to ensuring that bears stay away from homes in Incline Village, said Carl Lackey, a biologist for the Nevada Department of Wildlife.

"Let's hope we never have someone injured or killed and that's what starts people to care and be more aware," he said. "Then people will be scrambling for a bear-proof container only because someone had to get hurt."

With streams going dry in the backcountry, bears have been coming into neighborhoods in record numbers. The BEAR League has been receiving 150 to 200 calls per day, compared to 50 or so per day two years ago, said Ann Bryant, executive director of the Lake Tahoe-based BEAR League.

Twenty bears had been hit by cars at the end of July, Bryant said. Washoe County Sheriff's deputies reported another one killed by a car on Aug. 3 on the Mt. Rose Highway. That's already surpassed the record for collisions with the burly animals, Bryant said. Nineteen bears were hit in 2005; that was the most for any given year until this year.

Sgt. Carl Barnett of the Incline Village Substation said, on average, his office receives about 12 to 15 bear-related calls per day. Eighty percent of those calls result in actual bear sightings, he said.

The Tahoe Basin has the second highest density of black bears in North America, with several bears per square mile at times, according to the Nevada Department of Wildlife Web site.

However, despite the number of bear sightings this year, some question whether the situation last Thursday could and should have been handled differently.

Bryant is among area residents crying foul, saying last Thursday's incident never should have resulted in the bear's death, and that the bear never should have been wounded in the first place.

"As far as that officer, he was standing in front of the bear's escape route. What did he want (the bear) to do?" Bryant said. "That officer obviously completely overreacted to the situation - he should have stepped out of the way and let (the bear) go by ... (the bear) was scared, that's all.

"This was because of ridiculous overreaction and fear-based panic -- it was completely unnecessary."

Sgt. Erik Frederickson responded with deputies Jason Wood and Randy Vawters to a bear call at 130 Rubicon Peak Lane at about 5:30 a.m. Thursday morning.

Capt. Steve Kelly, commander at the Incline Village Substation, said the homeowner called the sheriff's office, saying a bear was in his house. He then locked himself and his family in the master bedroom, waiting for authorities to arrive.

Once the deputies arrived, Kelly said they opened the garage door to provide the bear an escape route.

However, when Frederickson looked through the open dining room window and saw the bear, Kelly said the bear spotted him. The animal growled and charged through the window at Frederickson, who shot the bear with a shotgun at close range in self defense.

Frederickson works a graveyard shift and could not be reached for comment. Kelly, speaking on Frederickson's behalf, said while the bear's death was unfortunate, Frederickson's actions were justifiable.

"I don't expect from anyone that works for me to get injured and be reluctant to save themselves," Kelly said. "It doesn't really matter if (Frederickson) was in the bear's way. Yeah, that could have been what happened. But I don't expect in those close quarters for (Frederickson) to take a moment and think about what the bear was doing, if it wanted to hug him or what."

After being wounded, the bear fled to 843 Freels Peak Drive, where it hid under a deck. From there, Lackey said a NDOW "bear dog" was used to rouse the bear from underneath the deck.

When it came out, NDOW and Incline deputies shot the animal numerous times with shotguns, killing it at about 8:30 a.m., he said.

"We will back up the Sheriff's Department all the time, 100 percent on this situation. (Frederickson) did what he had to do given the situation," Lackey said. "I mean, the bear was two feet away from him. He can't wait to find out what the bear's going to do. When you've got a VW Bug with fur coming at you, your heart's going to beat a bit faster.

"And really, all (Frederickson) had was a heartbeat to make a decision."

Bryant disagreed, saying it couldn't have been the bear's intention to attack Frederickson because black bears aren't mean-spirited.

Another argument she made was the family never should have locked itself in a bedroom.

"The thing that gets me is the family was too afraid to approach the bear -- they were scared, so they hid in the bedroom. It's shameful," Bryant said. "That's what is happening in the basin. People are being kept in fear by (NDOW and the California Department of Fish and Game) because they're telling them it's OK to be afraid. It's just shameful.

"That's why this bear was needlessly shot. Because the family was to afraid to yell at the bear to 'get out' and stand its territory."

Bryant said citizens need to be further educated that it is OK to stand up to a bear. Throwing rocks, pounding on walls and yelling loudly at the bear all are effective measures to solve a bear situation without forcing the animal to be killed.

If residents don't feel comfortable, they are encouraged to call the BEAR League at (530) 525-7297.

Kelly said whenever a bear is killed, there always will be people who don't approve. He said there always will be "people who feel animals have more rights than humans."

"It's always going to be a big political issue. But I can tell you this -- I've trained a lot of deputies that your top priority is to go home at the end of your shift, to be able to see your family and kids at the end of your shift," Kelly said. "I don't train them to get mauled or chewed up by a bear because they're afraid of public opinion."

Of 74 bear cases last year, four were euthanized, Lackey said. So far in 2007, three bears have been killed by the Nevada Department of Wildlife, he said. Thursday's bear was the first killed in Incline Village.