Outfitters Seek Bear Safety Standards After Fatal Mauling in Wyoming

BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) — Some Wyoming big-game outfitters and workforce safety regulators and working together to create guidelines for hunting in grizzly bear country after the fatal mauling of a hunting guide.

The Jackson Hole News and Guide reports Park County Commissioner Lee Livingston spoke about the partnership between the Wyoming Outfitters and Guides Association and the Wyoming office of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Thursday at the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee's Yellowstone Ecosystem Subcommittee meeting.

The partnership stems from the death of Jackson Hole resident and hunting guide Mark Uptain, who was preparing to pack out a client's elk for Martin Outfitters in September when he was fatally mauled in the Teton Wilderness.

Livingston says the groups are going to create a standard protocol for grizzly-bear training and bear-spray training for all regional land and wildlife management agency employees.