My evening shifts in Yellowstone called for nightly warnings and reminders to prevent grizzly bear-inflicted human injuries in the Lake Area Campgrounds.
I can’t begin to count how many times I gave the scripted bear warning in Fishing Bridge and Bay Campground as I drove up and down campground loops looking for ice chests and coolers that hadn’t been stored properly.
“Good evening campers. This is the Park Ranger. Due to the increased frequency of bears in the area, it is necessary that all campers maintain a clean campsite. Failure to do so is a violation of park regulations. Be sure to secure those ice chests, cooking utensils, and any food item in your campsite.”
Late one August night, during the Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Days, I was driving through Bridge Bay Campground and came across some outlaw bikers sleeping on the ground with one of the messiest campsites I’d ever seen.
Earlier in the day, we had gotten word that the Chief Ranger would be out and about driving through Yellowstone campgrounds to make sure his Rangers were getting the job done to keep visitors safe.
So, there I was. An inexperienced and untested seasonal Park Ranger with a dilemma. How in the world am I going to get the job done with these bikers?
Time for some creative Rangering.
I got on the radio and gave my location to the dispatcher at the Communication Center in Mammoth and told her I would be out with several bikers and to start broadcasting on my channel.
“About what?” she asked.
“It doesn’t matter! Just talk.”
“The weather forecast for Yellowstone National Park is calling for…”
Here goes. I turned the outside speaker on, activated my overhead red and blue lights, and pointed both spotlights on the sleeping bikers and their motorcycles.
Before I could even say, “Good evening. Park Ranger,” five very big bikers crawled out of their sleeping bags and put their hands in the air.
“You can put your hands down. There’s a grizzly bear in the campground and he’s heading this way. Your campsite is in pretty bad shape and you gotta get it cleaned up now.”
Whiskey bottles, beer cans, uneaten hot dogs and potato chip bags were quickly picked up and put into a bear proof garbage can I pointed out.
One of the bikers kept asking, “Ranger, what do you think? Is this good enough?”
“Looks good to me. I’m out of here. I’ll be in the area for the rest of the night to make sure you guys don’t have any problems or a run-in with that grizzly bear. Good night.”
As I got back into my patrol car and drove off into the darkness, I had to wonder what these bikers were going to saying to each other in the morning as they got their motors running and headed out on the highway.
A Ranger's Journal 