GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.—Wayward black bears searching for food have been wandering into energy workers’ camps and to well pads encroaching on the animals’ habitat, wildlife officials said.
The Division of Wildlife has received dozens of calls this summer from energy workers about bears, mostly around work sites near Parachute and Rifle, division spokesman Randy Hampton said.
The Division of Wildlife tags and relocates problem bears and puts them down if they return to an area and continue disturbing it, but Hampton said the division has not pursued this policy regarding the bears at work sites.
“We’ve had over 40 calls in the last three weeks from energy companies about bears,” he said. “But there are so many work sites out there that we’d move a bear from one right to another.”
Hampton said the rash of bear sightings could be solved if the companies and workers did a better job of cleaning up.
“Right now, we are seeing a lot of issues in terms of trash disposal at these man camps,” Hampton said.
Man camps, or temporary housing near job sites, cut commuting costs for energy companies who lease public land for development, Hampton said. But the job sites are pushing further into bear habitat, he said.
Such camps are set up at remote sites near the gas fields, and are meant to ease pressure on towns trying to accommodate workers drawn to northwest Colorado’s energy boom.
Wildlife officials have found dirty kitchens, unsecured trash and fast-food wrappers in truck beds at work sites that can attract bears, even when their natural forage hasn’t dried up during a hot, dry summer.
Wildlife officials also were investigating photos of workers intentionally feeding bears.
In July, EnCana Oil & Gas (USA) won approval for up to 31 such camps to house up to 750 workers. Company spokesman Dough Hock said there are now about 150 people working eight rigs in the area.
“Were installing bear-proof Dumpsters at every rig,” he said.
