Up Next in Wilsonia

By Sandy Herrera, NPS SEKI Bear Technician
 

This year in Wilsonia, there has been a bear seen quite often roaming around near cabins and getting into bird feeders and bee/wasp traps. Remember, this is bear country: it is as much their home as ours! Don’t be reckless; store all food and scented items properly for bear safety. Bears have an excellent sense of smell and are attracted to anything with a scent, which includes non-food items. To prevent bears from entering your yard, do not leave scented items such as bee/wasp traps, bird seed in bird feeders, candles, pet food, and pumpkins outside. Bring all items inside when not in use and do not leave items unattended while outside. If attractants are left unattended, a bear can linger and pose a threat to human safety or create significant property damage. Limiting human odors and scents is an effective way to prevent damage to your cabin. Without human scents near your cabin or a human food reward, bears will often move on and resume eating natural foods.  
Eating human food or other scented items can change a bear’s behavior, and they can become bolder in their attempts to get food from developed areas. To protect both bears and humans, it is essential that all scented items are stored properly and not left outside. This small action will help keep the bears alive and away from your back porch.
When closing your cabin for the winter, make sure to store all scented items inside the cabin and lock up all entrances and windows by boarding them securely. This will help secure your cabin for the winter.
If a bear does enter your yard, scare it away by yelling as loud as you can, clapping, and throwing small rocks in its direction. Scaring it away will help the bear learn that being near cabins is not a good place to be.
Last year, there was a bear in the Wilsonia area that repeatedly broke into cabins. We don’t want to repeat these incidents, so let’s keep that from happening this year by showing this bear that it will not receive any food rewards from the neighborhood!
Please report any damage, break-ins, or close encounters of bears near cabins to Sandy Herrera at  NPS_SEKI_BEAR_MGMT@nps.gov or (559) 565-4490. Reporting encounters will help us to understand patterns of bear behavior and develop more effective methods for dealing with any issues. Please remember to include the color of the bear, any ear tags, and if the bear has cubs.

Editor's note: Please cc wilsoniavillage@gmail.com to keep us informed.

The annual General Meeting of the Wilsonia Village Inc (WVI) Board took place on August 7 at 7pm. Prior to the meeting, a BBQ dinner was held. Thanks to Chuck Burgin for preparing the pork roast for the meal. Acting President Katie Wilson Padrick was not able to attend, but was able to open the meeting with a video message that was played on the new Clubhouse video and sound system. Treasurer Neal Mixter conducted the meeting and reviewed the events of the summer. He reported that the Clean-Up Day was very successful with over 50 volunteers, bringing in $2061 for the Fire Committee. The new fundraiser “A Taste of Wilsonia” was a near sellout, netting $2360. A yard sale that took place at the Black Pot Cook-Off, and a wagon spring bench donated by Randy Wood auctioned off on July 3, combined to bring in another $923. Other business discussed included the upcoming concert, bear issues, and the new sound system.
Elections were held to fill the two board member positions of retiring Freeman Stone and Linda Montgomery (who left last year and whose seat was filled for the 2020-21 season by Susan Stocking Harper). Our sincerest thanks to Linda and Freeman for their service on the Board, and to Susan for being willing to step in for Linda last summer. There were four candidates who expressed interest in being on the WVI Board: Sara DeJager LoBue, Debbie Faszholz, Dick Haile and Jacob Sertich. By paper ballot of those cabin owners in attendance, Sara DeJager LoBue and Debbie Faszholz were elected to the WVI Board.
WVI President and long time Board Member Chuck Burgin also announced that he was stepping down from the board this year, ahead of his 2022 term end date. In accordance with the WVI bylaws, the newly seated board will be appointing a replacement for Chuck this weekend; that person will serve for the 2021-22 year.

The Wilsonia Advisory Team (WAT) is made up of interested community members, including representatives from the WHDT, WVI and Sierra Masonic Tract boards, and representatives of the National Park Service. The WAT meets every two months (less often during 2020-21 due to COVID concerns). They discuss items that are of mutual concern to the NPS and Wilsonia cabin owners.
The most recent meeting took place on Saturday, August 14 at 10am.
Representing the NPS were SEKI Chief Ranger Ned Kelleher, Environmental Planning and Compliance Officer Elle Boerke, and SEKI Fire Management Officer John Ziegler.
Ned Kelleher spoke on behalf of Superintendent Clay Jordan. He opened by reiterating that Wilsonia is an important part of the park and is considered significant to the history of Grant Grove and Sequoia-Kings Canyon. He stated that the attitude about Wilsonia is 180 degrees opposite from the contentious period of the 1960s-1980s.
He informed us that the two items of focus of the Superintendent's office were Giant Sequoia protection and park infrastructure. He also spoke about the concern for NPS employee wellness and the difficulty employees have had finding housing. One of the challenges the park is facing is visitor congestion, especially in Giant Forest.
Elle Boerke spoke about the ongoing Land Exchange project. She said of the original seven participants in the program, only one Wilsonia property owner is still actively involved in the process. The Park is seeking new property appraisals for some of the NPS owned cabins, and will be announcing a public comment period once the process moves forward.
John Ziegler, who will be retiring in June 2022, talked about ongoing fuel projects, including the Big Stump mechanical fuel removal, and the planned Park Ridge prescribed burn, which is now scheduled for 2022.
Other topics addressed were PG&E cleanup of tree trimming and felling within Wilsonia, and the hiring of a new Plant Ecologist who will be doing surveys and education on invasive species in the Park and Wilsonia. Kelleher also spoke about the ongoing presence of bears parkwide. He said the bears are food-stressed due to fires and drought conditions. He emphasized removing all food from cabins when leaving for the season, and stated that all bird feeders, wasp traps and any food scented items should be removed from outside.
Representing Wilsonia in the meeting were Dick Moss (facilitator); Drew Sorensen (WHDT); and Neal Mixter, Mary Anne Smith and Sara DeJager LoBue (WVI). Approximately 20 other community members were in attendance.
The WAT will be meeting soon to renew the memorandum of agreement between Wilsonia and the NPS. The meeting date, time, and location/format will be announced when we have more information.