The judge presiding in a wrongful death lawsuit against the federal government over the 2010 mauling of an Illinois man by a grizzly bear in Wyoming has cancelled a trip to the site because too many grizzly bears in the area made visiting the site too dangerous.
U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Freudenthal of Cheyenne had scheduled a Monday trip to the North Fork location where Erwin F. Evert was killed by a grizzly bear on June 17, 2010. Evert’s widow, Yolanda Evert, is pressing a wrongful death suit against the federal government, alleging it was negligence by bear researchers that led to her husband’s fatal mauling. The suit alleges the bear had been left to recover from researchers’ tranquilizers with all warning signs removed, in violation of protocols.
Evert had reportedly gone looking for the researchers that day to see what they were up to.
Evert’s attorneys and those for the U.S. government had jointly asked Judge Freudenthal to visit the site of the mauling in the Shoshone National Forest, saying it would be the best way for her understand the “nature and character” of the area.
Freudenthal agreed to the visit in June and a roughly four-mile hike had been planned out to visit the Everts’ cabin on Kitty Creek, the trail he took to the bear research site that day and the site itself. But on July 25, Freudenthal scrapped the plans, citing the advice of the U.S. Marshals Service.
“After their visit, they (the Marshals) determined that there was significant bear activity in the area,” wrote Freudenthal, who is a Cody native. “The United States Marshal expressed his concern about the safety of all parties involved in the potential site visit, based both on bear activity and the remoteness of the terrain in the event of a personal injury or other issue.”
She agreed with his concerns and ruled it was best to nix the visit.