ORR – The American Bear Association marks its 20th anniversary next weekend. Special events are planned at the Vince Shute Wildlife Sanctuary on June 12 and 13 and there will be a pancake breakfast fundraiser on Saturday, June 13 from 7 to 10 a.m. at the Orr American Legion.

Cost for the breakfast is $7 and proceeds from the breakfast will go to benefit the Orr Fire Department, but the ABA will have shirts and other souvenirs for sale at the breakfast. In addition, the cost of the breakfast includes a free ticket to visit the sanctuary which can be used anytime in June.

Plans also call for a tribal prayer at 10 a.m. on Friday, June 12. The sanctuary is located close to Nett Lake on the Bois Forte Reservation.

“They are our closest neighbors,” said ABA President Dennis Udovich, who added that the bear plays an important role in Native American culture.

Most of the ABA’s Board of Directors and the founders of the organization are expected to be in attendance during the anniversary weekend celebration.

ABA’s origins

The ABA was formed in January 1995 by Karen Hauserman, and Bill and Klari Lea to preserve the unique bear-feeding station started by Vince Shute at his logging camp. Shute had been feeding the bears to prevent them from rampaging through his logging camp.

The bears were drawn by the tempting aromas of food cooked at the camp. Shute initially shot the bears raiding his camp, but later reasoned that the bears weren’t mean, just hungry. He started providing scraps for the animals to feast upon.

Shute became so comfortable around the bears that he walked freely among them and even let some nibble on a piece of toast dangling from his mouth. As word of his amazing relationship with the bears spread, carloads of visitors flocked to the site.

Although association members acknowledge that feeding wild bears isn’t advisable, Shute had been doing it so long that the bears had grown to depend on it. In addition, association members saw a rare opportunity to observe black bear behavior with animals normally cautious around humans. The Vince Shute Wildlife Sanctuary continues to enthrall more than 20,000 visitors annually who come to observe the bears and other wildlife from a viewing platform and become more educated about black bears. The sanctuary has also served as the site of several bear research projects and attracts volunteer interns from across the globe.

Udovich said the association recently purchased the former Ferrell Gas building at Orr, which it is in the process of turning into offices and an educational display.

“It gives us more exposure,” he said.

The Vince Shute Wildlife Sanctuary, which is open Tuesdays through Sundays from 5 to 8 p.m., is all about educating people about black bears, said Udovich.

Sanctuary’s evolution

The sanctuary has evolved from the days when visitors would wander among the bears, tossing out apples, candy and other treats to the animals.

People no longer wander the grounds, but observe the bears from a viewing platform. And the food is now provided by the sanctuary, which ensures it’s healthy and natural. Udovich estimates that the sanctuary spends between $40,000 to $50,000 annually on just bear food.

The sanctuary is manned by a mostly volunteer group. The only paid staff are the sanctuary’s director Stephanie Horner, manager Keith Dorfler and assistant manager Sam Breenan who is in training to replace Dorfler.

Volunteers come from across the globe, including India, Turkey and England.

Horner, who interned last year at the sanctuary, said she is a wildlife biology major.

“I knew I wanted to work with bears,” she said. “And this is a pretty special place. I was hooked right away.”

She said the sanctuary offers a chance to observe bears in their natural habitat instead of through the bars of a cage.

Udovich said the chance to see bears, sometimes as many as a dozen or more at a time, is the main draw, but the sanctuary also sees its mission as teaching people about bears.

The sanctuary provides information on bears, their biology and also how to act around bears encountered in the wild. For instance, Udovich said, they tell visitors that the sanctuary is unique and that people should yell to shoo bears away outside of the grounds of the sanctuary.

Bear numbers at the sanctuary fluctuate depending on how plentiful the bears’ natural foods are, Udovich said. The sanctuary isn’t meant to serve as the bears’ main source of food, but rather to supplement their diet. Udovich said providing that supplement in a location away from the city probably has reduced nuisance bear complaints.

At present, about 20 bears visit the sanctuary grounds each day, including a number of spring cubs accompanied by their mothers. Attendance thus far at the sanctuary is beating last year’s numbers, said Horner.

Two crosses are erected in the woods on the sanctuary grounds. One is for Duffy, a popular large bear who was killed by a hunter, and the other is in honor of Vince Shute. Some of Shute’s ashes were dispersed at the sanctuary at his request.

Bears have clawed and gnawed on the cross put up for Duffy, but Shute’s cross shows no such scars.

“It’s almost as if the bears respected Vince too much to damage his cross,” said Udovich.