Biologist objects to Swan Crest marathon

The man charged with grizzly bear recovery in the region openly criticized a 100-mile foot race in the Swan Range, saying it goes contrary to everything bear managers preach to the public about how to travel in grizzly country.

The Swan Crest Run held its first ultramarathon along alpine trail No. 7 last summer, but race organizers aren’t sure if they’ll apply for a permit this year.

Chris Servheen, the grizzly bear recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said last week the race is a bad idea.

“It’s contrary to what we tell everyone,” he said. Running on trails in grizzly bear habitat is not recommended because people are more apt to run into bears. For one, most runners are quiet, Servheen noted, and when hiking in bear country, travelers are encouraged to make noise so bears know a person is approaching. Secondly, with an ultramarathon, runners are moving at dawn, dusk and at dark just to finish the race. Bears are most active at dawn and dusk. Meanwhile, a runner’s visibility is poor.

“It’s likely to lead to injury to the runner and the bear,” Servheen noted. He likened it to skateboarding in the Sistine Chapel. Yes, someone could do it. But it’s still a bad idea.

“It’s human arrogance about human behavior in natural systems,” he said.

Servheen said he did not object to other races, like the LeGrizz ultramarathon, where runners stick to the road, which has better lines of sight and doesn’t have runners moving in darkness.

The Swan Crest Run also brought the objection of the Swan View Coalition, a conservation group that brought up similar concerns.

Swan View claims the Forest Service broke its own rules in allowing the race — too many people were on the trails all at once. But according to Forest Service documents, the run went on without incident and runners were encouraged to carry bear pepper spray.

In Glacier National Park, a runner was bitten a few years ago after he encountered two young grizzlies in the Park. Another runner in Glacier prior to that had a grizzly bear bite off his shoe.

According to the Swan View Ranger District, organizers for the Swan Crest Run have not yet applied for a permit to hold the race in 2011. Race organizers said they weren’t sure they would go ahead with the event in 2011.