Staying Safe in Bear Country

No Replay Available. 

Becca Lyon will discuss grizzly bear biology and tips for staying safe while recreating. Kole Stewart will discuss the town and county regulations on bear-proof trash cans and BearWise tips for homeowners.  We will have bear spray training with inert canisters in the Library parking lot. DO NOT BRING BEAR SPRAY CANISTERS TO THE LIBRARY OR THE PARKING LOT!!!

Becca Lyon has over 12 years’ experience working with everything from insects to large mammals.  She received her B.S. in  Wildlife Ecology from the University of Delaware and her M.S. in Forestry from Southern Illinois University. Her primary focus has been on carnivore research, conservation and management.  However, she has also had the opportunity to work with a variety of bird species.  Her favorite was the summer she spent trekking around the northern Sierras following black backed woodpeckers to research their breeding and foraging habits.  She has been living and working in the Jackson area for the past 5 years and loves all the recreation the valley has to offer.  When she’s not working she loves to hike, horseback ride, fish, kayak and ski often with her dogs in tow.

Kole Stewart grew up in Nebraska near the Platte River in the heart of the central flyway and a sea of crop fields. Witnessing millions of migrating birds each year and seeing firsthand how land use can change wildlife migration patterns and habitat use instilled in him a passion for wildlife conservation. He obtained a B.S. in Wildlife Management from Fort Hays State University and an M.S. in Fish and Wildlife Management from Montana State University. During his time working as a seasonal fish and wildlife technician in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, he learned the value of large intact landscapes and became well acquainted with the challenges associated with human development in wildlife habitats. He is most interested in landscape scale wildlife conservation and avenues for minimizing human/wildlife conflict and he is excited to live and work in a community that has prioritized wildlife conservation.