Casey Family Starts up Bearizona

By Steve Miller Journal staff | Posted: Monday, March 15, 2010 8:00 am

Two members of the Casey family, which owns Bear Country USA near Rapid City, are starting a similar attraction in northern Arizona.

Partners Sean and Dennis Casey, sons of Pauline Casey and the late Doc Casey, founders of Bear Country USA, plan to open Bearizona in Williams, Ariz., in May.

Bearizona, like Bear Country USA, will be a drive-through wildlife park, but it will put more emphasis on conservation and the environment, Sean Casey said in an interview.

Bearizona will use rainwater collection, composting and solar energy. “Hopefully, we’ll have a hand in some of the endangered species of the southwest,” Casey said.

Casey said the park will cater to a different type of customer, including visitors from nearby Phoenix, Las Vegas and even southern California.

He said the park will have about 40 species, including bears, wolves, bison, mountain goats, mountain lions and javelinas.

Bearizona will cover about 160 acres, which is slightly bigger than the amount covered by Bear Country USA here. At the end of the drive-through, there will be a walk-through area, which will be more like a traditional zoo except it will have cliffs and waterfalls, Casey said. “With so much ground to play with, we can hide the enclosures pretty well.”

He also said the park is permitted to have up to 800 hotel rooms, which will be designed into the park.

Casey said the park has the potential for high traffic in Williams, which sits at the intersection of Interstate 40 and Arizona Highway 64, an hour south of the south rim of the Grand Canyon.

“The Grand Canyon has about double the traffic of Mount Rushmore,” Casey said. A population of 4.5 million people lives within 150 miles of Williams, a town of about 3,000 people, he said.

The Grand Canyon Railway, which runs from Williams to the Grand Canyon, draws 100,000 visitors in November and December, Casey said.

Casey said the park won’t be finished for three years, but he said it will have a “bare bones” opening in May. He said the admissions building and a shop and animal-care facility should be mostly complete by then.

He said the park will employ about 60 people, with 10 of those full time and the remainder seasonal full-time workers.

Casey said he worked at Bear Country USA for 17 years before quitting in 2008, after a disagreement with some of the other six Casey siblings about the direction in management at the attraction.

As a result, he decided to do a project of his own.

“I do think it’s a blessing that we’re able to try something new,” Casey said.

For more information on the park, go to www.Bearizona.com.

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