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Bears and food storage

SIBBG

Also called Sierra Interagency Black Bear Group

What is SIBBG?

SIBBG is the Sierra Interagency Black Bear Group, which coordinates black bear management across Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, Inyo National Forest and neighbouring lands. It maintains the allowed food-storage container list used across much of the Sierra Nevada.

SIBBG at a glance

Covers
Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, Inyo NF
Maintains
An allowed container list
Tests against
Black bears

Why the Sierra needed its own group

The Sierra has a specific problem: decades of habituated black bears that learned campgrounds and trailhead parking lots are food. Managing that needed the agencies who share the range to agree, so the National Park Service units, the Forest Service and California state agencies coordinate through SIBBG.

The container list

The most visible output for hikers is the container list. SIBBG maintains an allowed list of food storage containers, and it's the list that matters if you're hiking in Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, or Inyo National Forest, including the Mount Whitney and John Muir Trail corridors where canisters are required.

Why it differs from the IGBC list

It's a different list from IGBC's, which is the point worth internalising. IGBC tests against grizzlies and covers a wide product range; SIBBG focuses on black bear country in the Sierra. A container can appear on one and not the other. If your trip is in the Sierra, the SIBBG list and the specific park's own page are the authorities to check, and both can change between seasons.

What this means when you're choosing

  • Your exact model on the SIBBG allowed list, not just the brand
  • That you are checking SIBBG rather than IGBC for a Sierra trip
  • Any local addendum for the specific park or forest

The common mistake

Bringing an IGBC-certified container to the Sierra without checking

The two lists are not the same and neither is a superset of the other. IGBC tests against grizzlies; SIBBG tests against the specific habituated black bears in the Sierra. A canister accepted in Montana can be refused at a Yosemite trailhead.

Common questions

Which canisters are allowed in Yosemite and the John Muir Trail?

The ones on the current SIBBG allowed list, which the parks link from their own wilderness pages. It changes, so check it when you plan rather than relying on what was allowed last season.

Is the SIBBG list the same as the IGBC list?

No. They're separate programmes with different scopes, and a container approved under one isn't automatically accepted under the other. For Sierra trips, SIBBG and the park's own page are what count.

Where this is defined

Where this comes up

Guides on Tom's Hiking where sibbg changes which product is right for you.

Going deeper

More in bears and food storage

Bear canister

A bear canister is a rigid container with a lid a bear can't open, used to store food and scented items overnight. Many parks and wilderness areas require an approved model, and where they do it's a regulation rather than a recommendation.

IGBC certification

IGBC certification is the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee's testing programme for bear-resistant products. Containers are tested against live captive grizzlies and by mechanical means, and passing earns a certification number many land managers reference.

Bear-resistant

Bear-resistant is the accurate term for certified food storage: the container holds up against a determined bear for a defined test period. Bear-proof is marketing. Given enough time and motivation, a bear can defeat almost anything.

Ursack

An Ursack is a soft, flexible bear bag made from cut-resistant fabric that ties to a tree instead of being a rigid container. It's much lighter and more packable than a canister, and it isn't accepted everywhere canisters are required.

Bear spray

Bear spray is an EPA-registered aerosol deterrent that fires a wide cloud of capsaicin and related capsaicinoids, at 1.0 to 2.0 percent, into the face of a charging bear. It's a last line of defense carried in a holster, and it isn't the same product as personal pepper spray.

Calorie density

Calorie density is how many calories a food delivers per ounce of weight. Backpackers use it to keep a food bag light, because fat carries about 9 calories a gram against roughly 4 for carbohydrate and protein, so an ounce of nut butter carries many times the calories of an ounce of fresh fruit.

Electrolytes

Electrolytes are the minerals, mainly sodium, potassium, magnesium and chloride, that carry an electric charge in body fluids and help keep water balanced. Hikers lose them in sweat, and on long, hot days they need replacing with salty food or a drink mix, not plain water alone.

By Tom · Last reviewed . Back to the glossary