A lame waste of time and money! The bears LIVE in the forest areas. They are always a possible problem. The campers should have been better campers. They should have done the right thing with food and drink. They should have ASKED the rangers about possible dangers BEFORE they went to a remote "campsite". The inexperienced campers should ALWAYS stay close to home or right next to a ranger campsite.

I'm very sorry for this family's loss. That's a tragic thing.
However, here in Montana we have plenty of bears and they are not user-friendly park bears. I go fly fishing all the time and have learned a few things. You must arm yourself with pepper spray, and most of all, a knowledge of bear behavior before you have an encounter.
When in the wilderness, you are in the bears' home. Act accordingly.

When an attorney really needs to make some money. Say "Oh yeah, we can win", when you have no caseand it's off to court. If this family were to win, all states would have to shut down parks everywhere to avoid lawsuits from ATV deaths to snakebites. We are a country out of control. I'm sorry for the family, but this is not your opportunity to profit.

Whether a ranger tells me or not, I realize that bears, mountain lions, and other wild animals live in the mountains and it's probably smart to be prepared (pepper spray or a gun). I'm taking a risk every time I go up into the mountains. This lawsuit will not bring anyone back to life and it will not prevent the same kind of tragedies from occurring in the future. The blame is on a wild animal's actions. Does the government need to invest $100 million nationwide putting up signs at every campground & trailhead in the country with the following, "Warning, you are in the wilderness. Dangerous animals could be lurking near." The accident was a tragedy, but blaming the state for this is no different than taking a lawsuit against KSL because the weatherman didn't warn me that the rain would make my rock climbing experience slippery. Rain makes rocks slick, and wild animals live in the mountains.

I respect their loss and would feel for them.

There is more than one problem with this though.

1.) Mountains/Camp Grounds=Bears(I agree with the comment about being in the bear's home.

2.) If you want to fix anything don't sue the state. All this does is hurt EVERYONE with taxes in the long run. Don't take your loss out on all of Utah. Campaign for "Signs for Utah wildlife" which scouting in Utah and BASIC.... BASIC! Camping teach this knowledge.

3.) I agree the kid may not have fully understood. But the parents being ADULTS and having the responsibility of a child are responsible for protecting him. If they go camping, they should "Be prepared"

4.) Are there not signs at the entrance of every camp ground in America that state SOMETHING to do with animal wildlife? If not there are still places to go to find the information.

5.) Lastly, though this is repetative, this point deserves a second go; if in the mountains, there are animals there. Utah has bears. Every Utahn should know this. Our society teaches us 'PLENTY of don't feed the bears' but their parenting skills should have been the 2nd safety net. They knew.

I really feel bad for this family I know a family who has lost a child and it was really hard for them!! It would also be really hard if I were the sister of that 11 year old boy, I have a brother who is 11 and when i think about it it would be hard to loose him even though sometimes i wish he would just leave me alone!!

i think it is just really sad and i think the family is just trying to get some closure.

I really feel badly for this family, but this lawsuit is ridiculous. Another ambulance chaser has convinced them that they can somehow ease the pain with some cash. Please stop wasting the courts time and the taxpayers money with a lawsuit that has absolutely no merit.

And you MUST take precautions, such as keeping food out of your tent! When this story came out, the child had food in the tent, opened, and the bears can smell this from miles away! I lived for a summer just outside Yellowstone at a Boy Scout camp, and that was one thing you couldn't leave out at night. One of our troops back then didn't listen and left a bunch of food out on their picnic table, that night, a bear showed up in our camp! We chased it off and called the rangers immediately, but the bear returned several times because he knew food was there for the taking. After that, every week at camp people took care of their food and stored it properly and we didn't see another bear.

I feel for this family and the loss of their son, but suing the state isn't the way to get closure. Realize that it was a horrible incident that isn't really anyone's fault altogether, and move forward.

It's a sad sentiment to believe that someone will gain closure from a frivilous lawsuit. It seems we always want to blame others. I say blame the bear and move on. Become an activist for outdoor safety, don't send a message that anytime something bad happens we should seek financial damages from the biggest organization involve to see if we can become rich. I really hope I'm misjudging the intent of this saddened family, but it's hard to see what the benefit of this whole thing will be.

Those ultrasonic dog gadgets that warn away dogs with a push of a button work like a charm on bears, too.

Don't believe me? Try it at the zoo ;-)