Arguments heard over liability in bear attack which kills boy

An attorney for the family of a Utah boy killed by a black bear told the state Supreme Court on Wednesday that wildlife officials didn't do enough to warn them to steer clear of an area where the troublesome bear had been seen earlier. In a special session of the Utah Supreme Court at the University of Utah, state officials argued immunity on several fronts, including that the bears are a "natural condition" on public land, a distinction that shields the state from liability. A state judge last year dismissed a negligence suit filed against the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources by the family of Samuel Ives, the 11-year-old who was pulled out of his tent by a black bear in American Fork Canyon in 2007. The bear had caused problems in the same area earlier that day. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources called it a "level 3" nuisance bear -- considered the most dangerous -- and crews set out to find it and kill it. They weren't immediately successful but did clear the camp site of anything that might attract the bear again, state officials said. Ives' family arrived at the camp site later that day. The attack happened that night. Attorney Jonah Orlofsky, representing the family, told the court on Wednesday the state should have put up some kind of a warning there was a problem bear in the area. He also said the state should have asked the U.S. Forest Service, which owns the land, to close the site...more