Scouts’ Killing of Bear Reasonable

In the case of the Huntington Beach Boy Scouts versus the Yosemite Park bears, I come down on the side of the Boy Scouts (“O.C. Boy Scouts Investigated in Bear’s Killing,” Aug. 17). I do so because I have been in the same circumstances as the Boy Scouts apparently were.

Over the years I have hiked the entire John Muir Trail and the Tahoe-Yosemite Trail and made numerous trips back and forth across the Sierra. I respect the mountains, their solitude and the wildlife that lives there.

But I also know from personal experience that marauding bears in the middle of the night can be a frightening experience, not only to Boy Scouts but to adults as well.

Rarely does a year go by that we do not hear some reports of bears versus humans. Bears usually win, and humans are lucky to get off by simply being mauled.

The wilderness experience is not supposed to be a contest between man and beast, but sometimes it is.

As a result, park personnel issue all sorts of warnings to hikers about the potential dangers of coming in contact with wild animals, especially bears.

No wonder the Boy Scouts took the action that they did. Not only were they told to do so, but it was the proper thing to do, because their lives were endangered, regardless of what park personnel may say now.

Had I been a Scout leader, I would have done the same thing as did the leaders of Troop 1. Those kids needed protection.

As for Troop 1, I remember running into them in a place that is a rugged two-day hike from trail head in the eastern Sierra.

I found them to be a disciplined, well-organized and respectful group of young people at that time, and I bet there has been no reason for them to change over the intervening years.

CLARENCE J. TURNER

Newport Beach