U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2009–3018

April 2009 Printed on recycled paper

A bear spray safety program for the U.S. Geological 

Survey (USGS) was officially initiated by the Firearms Safety 

Committee to address accident prevention and to promote 

personnel training in bear spray and its transportation, storage, 

and use for defense against wild animals. Bear spray (fig.1) is 

recognized as an effective tool that can prevent injury in a wild 

animal attack when used as part of a system including firearms, 

or used alone for those who choose not to carry a firearm. 

The correct tool to use against aggressive bears is not 

always obvious. Experienced hunters have found that despite 

using firearms to defend themselves against a charging bear, 

they were nonetheless attacked and badly hurt. Law enforcement agents for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have experiences that support this reality on the basis of their investigations 

of encounters between humans and bears since 1992. People 

who encounter grizzlies and defend themselves with firearms 

suffer injury about 50 percent of the time. During this same 

period, persons defending themselves with bear spray escaped 

injury most of the time, and those who were injured were 

subjected to attacks of shorter duration and sustained less severe 

injuries. Canadian bear biologist Dr. Stephen Herrero reached 

similar conclusions on the basis of his own research, which suggests that a person’s chance of incurring serious injury from a 

charging grizzly bear doubles when bullets are fired rather than 

when bear spray is used (from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Fact Sheet 8, Living with Grizzlies, Bear Spray vs. Bullets, 

http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/species/mammals/grizzly/

bear%20spray.pdf).

Bear Spray Safety Program

The USGS provides firearms safety/proficiency and wild 

animal behavior training to any employee choosing to carry a 

firearm in the field as a part of his or her official duties. Awareness of bear behavior is an important element in mitigating 

potential danger. Estimating distance to the bear and recognizing aggressive and nonaggressive bear behaviors are the best 

ways of escaping injury (fig. 2). Since the inception of this 

training, the USGS has had an excellent safety record regarding firearms accidents and incidents involving aggressive 

bears. Nonetheless, the USGS Firearms Program stresses that 

Firearms

Bear spray

No deterrent

On target/fire

Spray

Stand ground/

loud noise

Slowly back away/

detour

Slowly back away/

detour

Slowly back away/

detour

Level 4

Contact 

distance 

Level 3

Less than 50 ft 

away—

aggressive traits

Level 2

Less than 50 ft 

away—

nonaggressive 

traits

Level 1

More than 50 ft away 

Decreasing distance to threat—increasing levels of force

Bear Force Continuum: Black Bear, Grizzly Bear

Fire

Spray

Black–Fight

Griz–Submit

Less lethal/

ready position

Spray in 1- to

2-second bursts

Slowly back away

the firearm is a tool of last resort and is only to be used when 

other less-lethal deterrents, such as bear spray, are exhausted or 

become impractical. 

The USGS and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service support the 

bear spray recommendations of the Interagency Grizzly Bear 

Committee (http://www.igbconline.org/html/bearspray.html), 

which states that bear spray is not a substitute for following 

proper bear-avoidance safety techniques and that bear spray 

should be used as a deterrent only when facing an aggressive or 

attacking bear.

Figure 1. Employee using an active can of bear spray. The active 

spray travels a greater distance than inert bear spray because of 

the mass of the pepper oils.

Figure 2. Bear force 

continuum showing distances 

to the bear and recommended 

actions depending on whether 

the employee has no deterrent, 

has bear spray, or has a firearm.
No deterrent is 100-percent effective, but bear spray has 

been effective in fending off threatening and attacking bears and 

preventing injury to the person and animal involved. The proper 

use of bear spray can reduce the number of bears killed and reduce 

injuries to people caused by bears (from the Interagency Grizzly 

Bear Committee at http://www.IGBConline.org).

Although bear spray is a good means of defense, it is not a 

substitute for vigilance, understanding wild animal characteristics and behavior (fig. 3), and following appropriate avoidance 

techniques. Never intentionally approach a bear or any wild animal. Do not spray a passive bear to get it to leave the area. Bear 

spray is only meant to be used on charging or attacking bears 

(modified from “Be Bear Aware,” http://www.centerforwildlifeinformation.org/BeBearAware/BearSpray/bearspray.html).

Obtaining Bear Spray Authorization

With supervisory permission, any USGS employee or 

volunteer can be authorized to carry bear spray while on official 

duty once they have completed the following requirements as 

specified in chapter 46 of the Occupational Safety and Health 

Program Requirements Handbook, Safety Manual 445–2–H 

(http://www.usgs.gov/usgs-manual/handbook/hb/445-2-h/ch46.

html):

1. Successful completion of the appropriate Bear Spray 

Safety Training Course as listed in chapter 46, SM 

445–2–H.

2. Completion of a Certificate of Need, including your 

supervisor’s approval, as included in chapter 46, SM 

445–2–H, Appendix A.

For Further Information

Details and cautions (for example, fig. 4) concerning the 

storage, security, and transport of bear spray also are discussed 

in chapter 46 of SM 445–2–H.

Bear safety videos are available from the International 

Association for Bear Research and Management: http://www.

bearbiology.com/.

Information on two excellent videos, “Staying Safe in Bear 

Country” and “Working in Bear Country,” is available from 

the Grizzly Bear Outreach Project at http://www.bearinfo.org/

bearsafety.htm.

Figure 3. Knowing the difference between 

a black bear (Ursus americanus) and a 

grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) is 

important because each species displays 

different behaviors (also see fig. 2). 

(Used with permission from “Be Bear Aware.”)

Figure 4. Bear spray canisters can explode as a result of heat 

buildup if left on the dash of a vehicle, as seen here.

Bureau Chad Dickinson chad_dickinson@usgs.gov

Eastern Region Wayne Martin wmartin@usgs.gov

Central Region Ron Kuzniar rkuzniar@usgs.gov

Western Region John Galloway jgallway@usgs.gov

Alaska Region Chad Smith cwsmith@usgs.gov

Written By Charles D. Blome and Ronald L. Kuzniar

U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado

Publishing Support by the Denver Publishing Service Center

Edited by Lisa Binder

Layout by Carol Quesenberry

Contacts:

The USGS Bear Spray Safety Program is overseen by both Bureau and Regional Safety Management. Contact any of the Firearms Safety Managers at the email 

addresses below: