County officials are putting nearly $1.3 million toward a response at Lopez Lake Recreation Area in southern San Luis Obispo County, California, after a rise in bear-related problems for campers. Reported issues have included stolen food, damaged campsites, and close encounters involving cubs and mother bears.
What happened?
According to The Tribune, the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors approved nearly $1.3 million for expanded bear-mitigation work at Lopez Lake Recreation Area.
That money is slated to pay for steel, bear-resistant food storage lockers at every campsite, as well as additional bear-proof trash receptacles and dumpsters throughout the park.
County staff said the decision comes amid more bear activity around the recreation area's nearly 400 campsites, with incidents involving stolen food, property damage, and campsites left in disarray.
Shawn Cooper, assistant director for SLO County's Parks and Recreation Department, said the county is trying to be proactive "in making sure the visitors are safe, and also the wildlife is protected." Describing the kinds of damage that have already occurred, Cooper told The Tribune, "There has been damage to cars, damage to camping equipment, coolers, tents ..."
Krysten Kellum, an information officer at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, also told The Tribune that one vehicle's interior was destroyed after campers failed to properly secure food.
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Why does it matter?
Officials say the bigger risk is that bears are learning to treat campgrounds as easy places to find food left behind by people, which can make future encounters more likely and more dangerous.
"As bears receive or find food left by humans, they become more adapted to look for food in the areas where humans are and seeking out food and getting more acclimated to that environment," Cooper said, according to the Tribune. "So they kind of become more tame and become more comfortable in approaching the campgrounds and where people are."
Kellum explained why that pattern can be so hard to reverse: "Once bears learn that there's an easy food source that they don't have to put a lot of energy into — this calorie cache that is all the food that the visitors bring in, they don't secure — it's very difficult for a bear to unlearn that."
Although Kellum said there have been no reported human injuries beyond one "incidental scratch," staff warned that bears that stop fearing people are often removed. In some cases, that means relocation or euthanasia.
What's being done?
The county's new investment is focused on removing the attractants that keep drawing bears into the campgrounds.
Cooper said the new infrastructure is expected to be purchased and installed in phases, with full installation targeted by spring 2027. The new lockers and receptacles are intended to make it harder for bears to get into food and trash.
"This funding is critically important to not only protect the visitors of the campground, but also to protect and preserve wildlife out at the campground," Cooper said. "It'll provide a secure place to manage food that prevents bears from being able to access."
Visitors are being urged to keep food and scented items — including deodorant and perfume — secured in locked cars and to avoid approaching or feeding bears. Those steps are intended to curb the human behaviors driving the issue.
"This is a major step for reducing conflict in the campground, the rest of the park," Kellum said. "This is good news for everybody — visitors and bears, and you know, even outside of the park, residences and ranches."
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