Wrong.  You can _try_ to prevent the bear from getting to it.  On a long
cross-country trip, I learned the difference between campgrounds that
pretended to have a bear problem and those that really did.  I shook my head
whenever I came across one that said "put all your food in your car."  If
that's their advice, they don't really have a bear problem.

Bear boxes are pretty good, but bears have been known to overcome just about
everything else.

I agree that's the way it's supposed to be.  We spent a few days in
Yellowstone and saw one grizzly bear from about 1/4 mile away.  That was
close enough for me.

The sad thing to see was what we saw at Grand Teton a few days later.  A sow
black bear with three cubs, and within 50 FEET was a group of more than 50
onlookers.  There are large amounts of berries in the area we were in, and a
spectacualr waterfall attracts a lot of people - stupid people.  Just a year
earlier, a sow and her cub had to be destroyed because it figured out that
some poeple have food.  Several relocation attempts failed, the sow just
came back.  I would not be surprised if the same happened with the new bear.
It's such wonderful bear habitat that if they remove that bear, another will
come.

Austin

My family has camped in the Smokies many times over the years, also
Yellowstone and Tetons.  Smokies of course only have blacks, but we
have learned to deal with them.  We have taught the kids to keep the
campsite VERY clean, and never, NEVER, take any food into the tent.
The van has always been a very good place to keep the ice chests and
food boxes, but we also cover the coolers and boxes with a blanket to
keep the bears from seeing what is there.  We returned from a late hike
once to find paw prints on the back glass where the bear was looking
into the van.  I am sure a bear can get into a car or van if he or she
really wants in.  We have seen many bears, on the trails and had them
travel through our campsite without stopping many times in the past.
The key is to leave nothing out for them to stop and find.  We have had
no bear encounters in the west, but having grizzlies in the area we
were even more diligent of keeping a clean, odor free campsite, but
were still apprehensive about an encounter.
   On the other hand, whereas we have learned how to camp around black
bears and have had no bad experiences, a few summers ago we were
camping in campgrounds that were mountain lion habitats, that kept us
more on edge than a bear habitat.