Trail and Campgrounds restricted following bear incidents

By Soren Wuerth

TNews Editor

A black bear seen feeding on a moose kill has prompted the closure Thursday of a popular hiking path in Portage Valley. 

The closure follows the closure earlier this month of Black Bear and Williwaw campgrounds in the area to tents and soft-sided campers when a black bear injured a woman sleeping in a tent. 

A black bear is seen crossing a creek near the Black Bear Campground June 17.  (Photo by Soren Wuerth)

In that case, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game determined from samples that a single male black bear was involved, according to an article in Anchorage Daily News, and that two occupants in the tent had no attractants in their tent.

Bears are known to defend a food source and it will likely hang around the area for several weeks, Forest Service spokesman Brandon Raile said in a statement.

The Byron Glacier Trail closure affects the nearly mile-long trail that begins near the Portage Visitor Center.