Do (Not) Feed the Bears: The Fitful History of Wildlife and Tourists in Yellowstone

While vigilant Smokey and food-crazed Yogi have been the most enduring images of the grizzly for most baby boomers, writer-historian Biel shows how they symbolize the long history of bears in Yellowstone National Park in a superb, complex narrative. "[T]he bear has served as a flash point for controversies related to the park's evolving wildlife policies and ideologies," she writes. Beginning with Yellowstone's early years at the end of the 19th century, Biel shows how the tension between the "maximization of tourist visits" and the "preservation of primitive conditions" became the defining issue for Yellowstone bear life. "Bear shows" in the 1910s, where tourists watched bears being fed, started a dangerous tradition of visitors' hand-feeding that lasted until the 1950s. Biel's work is rooted in solid research and provides a concise look at all major government policies toward the park through the 1990s. But Biel's look at the conflict between commerce and ecology throughout Yellowstone's history is also aided by her humorous insights, such as how a 1961 park pamphlet using Yogi Bear to discourage bear feeding was like "Bart Simpson warning kids to respect their elders." 14 photos. (Mar. 4)