Brown bears are frequent visitors to the beach along Cook Inlet at Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, and that's why park officials are proposing a requirement that campers within a half-mile of the coast have an electrified bear fence for protection/Rebecca Latson file

There are bear bells, bear boxes, and bear-proof containers, but how many of you have ever used an electric bear fence? That's being proposed as a requirement this year when you're camping within a half-mile of the Cook Inlet coastline at Lake Clark National Park and Preserve in Alaska.

Park officials are proposing that requirement in the superintendent's compendium, or handbook of park rules. Under this proposal, the "bear resistant electric fencing" would be required for all camping facilities, shelters, structures and equipment when you're camping within a half-mile of the coastline.

And, park officials note, having a bear fence would not mean you don't have to use a bear resistant food container or alternative approved food storage methods.

Park officials say the electrified fence requirement is needed to "avoid introducing problematic behaviors and habituation of bears to the visiting human population." They also want campers to have backup systems for keeping foods away from bears just in case the bear fence fails or was improperly set up (e.g., operator failure).

Finally, they say this "provision is not intended to interfere with the appropriate disposal of removed human waste under state and local laws such as requirements/allowances for disposal of human waste within WAG bag or other, similar systems."