Yosemite keeps bear spray ban
Yosemite’s strict ban on bear spray remains in effect as roughly 500 black bears emerge this mid‑March — park officials are repeating food‑storage rules and safety protocols — and lingering winter impacts mean some roads and trailheads are still closed or muddy from accelerating snowmelt thetravel.com usanationalparks.info.
Federal rule 36 CFR 13.30 allows irritant chemical devices under federal [law ecfr.gov], but Yosemite’s Superintendent’s Compendium—approved May 20, 2025—specifically lists pepper and bear spray among items restricted inside park [boundaries home.nps.gov] and shows Acting Superintendent Ray McPadden as the approving official.nps.gov Yosemite’s weapons guidance names pepper spray, pellet guns and BB guns as prohibited implements inside the [park nps.gov], and the park’s recent “What to Do if You See a Bear” update (March 14, 2026) tells visitors to pack up food, never throw food to bears, and make loud noise if a bear enters a developed [area nps.gov]. Overnight backpackers must carry approved bear‑resistant food containers in designated wilderness zones, per NPS food‑storage [rules nps.gov], and Yosemite Conservancy operates a bear‑canister rental program while funding thousands of locked food lockers across the [valley yosemite.org]; an NPS ArcGIS map shows specific canister‑required areas and seasonal exemptions (Dec. 15–Mar. 30) for parts of the park.public-nps.opendata.arcgis.com Yosemite’s Current Conditions page (updated March 2026) lists Tioga Road (Hwy 120 through the park) and Glacier Point Road as closed for the season and warns that snow, accelerating snowmelt and mud are still affecting other roads and [trailheads nps.gov], while park updates on March 13, 2026 also flagged seasonal closures at Badger Pass and Mariposa Grove Road and limited Half Dome access.yosemitethisyear.com Park biologists estimate roughly 300–500 American black bears live inside Yosemite’s 1,169 square [miles nps.gov]; monitoring groups recorded 21 bears struck by vehicles in 2024 with three confirmed [deaths keepbearswild.org], and reporting into early 2026 continued to show vehicle strikes among the park’s leading causes of bear mortality.sfgate.com Yosemite managers are relying on enforcement through the Superintendent’s Compendium and sustained public outreach—via the Keep Bears Wild partnership, locker and canister programs, and “Speeding Kills Bears” signage—to reduce food‑conditioning and road [mortality home.nps.gov]; NPS bear‑management notes state those outreach and signage campaigns are central to reducing human‑bear conflict on park lands.nps.gov
