When a bear mauled a high school girl on the Rover's Run trail in 2008, the city immediately closed the trail. And there were no more bear maulings that summer. In 2009, the city recognized the risk of human-bear conflict and kept the trail closed. There were no human-bear conflicts last summer.
This summer, trail users who come to Rover's Run will find it is no longer closed.
Using their common sense, people who found the trail closed in past summers could sensibly conclude that something has changed. They might think there has been a change in the risk of human-bear conflict. That it is now safer to use Rover's Run. But they would be wrong. The risk of human-bear conflict remains the same in 2010 as it was in 2008 and 2009.
The only thing that has changed from 2009 to 2010 is the person in the mayor's office.
On June 15 -- five days after state wildlife experts recommended closing Rover's Run for the summer -- a bear attacked a bicyclist on his way to work. The man avoided major injury by playing dead, something he learned from listening to wildlife experts. Unlike his two predecessors, Mayor Dan Sullivan did not listen to wildlife experts, and he refused to close the trail following last week's attack. Mayor Sullivan insists that we only need a warning sign and people should use their "good common sense." But as long as the trail remains open, common sense will tell trail users that something has changed since 2009, when the trail was kept closed for safety's sake.
The philosopher George Santayana appealed to our common sense when he remarked: "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Common sense works best when it relies on education and experience. We can remember history and take steps so we don't repeat history. Several summers ago, we learned important lessons about managing our city parks.
In the mid 1990s, a 12-year old was playing with friends on the railroad tracks near Westchester Lagoon. Attempting to hop a passing freight train, he fell under the train wheels. He lost both legs and only survived because of the heroic efforts of our emergency medical professionals. His family sued the Municipality of Anchorage for failure to keep the railway bed closed to the public. Confronted with proof that the city knew of prior problems with people on the railroad tracks, the municipality paid the family $500,000 to settle the case. Today, the city and the railroad remember that tragic summer day and take precautions to limit access to the railroad tracks. And we can learn an important lesson about using education and experience to guide our common sense.
The city has a duty to maintain its parks in a safe condition for its residents and visitors. The city breaches that duty when it fails to take reasonable measures to maintain safe parks. If someone suffers injuries because of an unsafe condition in a park, the city may be liable for their damages.
Close the trail, law-abiding citizens stay off the trail, and we have no injuries. Open the trail, law-abiding citizens use the trail, and another injury occurs. While no one can guarantee how a court will rule if presented with these facts, lawyers often remark that bad facts lead to bad law. Keeping Rover's Run open looks like a lawsuit on a silver platter if there is another bear mauling when the trail is open.
If Mayor Sullivan persists in his decision to keep Rover's Run open, we should consider renaming the trail "Sullivan's Folly."
Matt Claman is a local attorney and former Anchorage Assembly member who served as mayor of Anchorage in 2009.
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