Posted on 08/09/2005 12:57:04 PM PDT by neverdem
MISSOULA, Mont. — As the Bush administration prepares to remove Yellowstone's grizzly bears from the endangered-species list, a schism has emerged in the environmental movement over whether the bears remain at risk.
The nation's largest environmental group, the National Wildlife Federation, supports delisting the bears, whose numbers have bounced back impressively after three decades of federal protection.
But other powerful organizations, including the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Earthjustice, are threatening to sue the Bush administration if, as expected, it removes Yellowstone grizzlies from the list.
"The recovery has been a huge success, but removing federal protection now is too risky," said Heidi Godwin, regional representative for the Sierra Club in Montana. "You don't go from emergency room to the parking lot. The bears still need intensive care."
The National Wildlife Federation, though, says it is time for environmentalists to rethink how to manage Yellowstone's grizzlies — both as a matter of science and as a political tactic in an era of Republican rule.
"We think we should embrace success when it happens," said Sterling Miller, a grizzly-bear specialist and senior wildlife biologist in the federation's Northern Rockies office. "If we don't, we play right into the hands of the people who are trying to kill the Endangered Species Act. ... "
The proposal to take the grizzlies off the endangered-species list comes as the White House, Republicans in Congress, land-rights groups and many industry lobbyists are pressing to limit the scope and power of the 1973 Endangered Species Act, which many conservatives scorn as costly, clumsy and ineffective.
Given this political reality, officials from the National Wildlife Federation say they have concluded that the long effort to rescue grizzlies in and around Yellowstone National Park should be publicized for what it is: a resounding success and a perfect example of how the Endangered Species Act can work.
When grizzlies were listed as threatened in 1975, there were about 200 to 250 of them in the Yellowstone area. Now their population is estimated to be about 600, and growing by about 4 percent to 7 percent a year, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.
"The public should understand that the Endangered Species Act is not an overnight cure," said Thomas France, director and counsel for the federation's Northern Rockies office. "But you will have success when there is proper funding and real cooperation. What has happened with the grizzlies is a model for how to take an animal off the list."
France said Montana, Wyoming and Idaho — working with federal agencies — are well prepared to guarantee the long-term health of Yellowstone's grizzlies.
If the Yellowstone grizzlies are delisted, a Forest Service protection plan in six national forests that surround the national park would sharply limit road building, camping, and oil and gas exploration, while retiring existing leases for livestock grazing, said Chris Servheen, grizzly bear recovery coordinator for Fish and Wildlife. "They would be fairly intensively taken care of from now on," Servheen said.
Officials from several environmental organizations, however, said they do not trust the White House to follow through.
To "protect" the grizz, make it an economic investment, i.e. a hunting season with a good fee to bag one.
I'd love to get a grizz in my sights. A good .54 caliber ball or a nice .577 minie ball should do the trick.
> Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Earthjustice
... need to send their members into the woods and count
the bears, unarmed of course, so that we have an accurate
census.
I'd rather be split over grizzlies than split by grizzlies.
All for it, killing the ESA I mean. What is the bears natural enemy? Man. Control the species by controlling hunting. (Oh, I see hunting is already controlled. So what is the need for the ESA?)
Pretty much my thought as well. When you are in the presence of a grizzly, the endangered species is not the BIG hairy one.
Can someone tell me the purpose of bears if you DON'T hunt them??
Well, if we could get the grizzlies to move to blue states....
.54 cal ball?
I dunno. Think I'd rather have something I could fire again real quick rather then messing with power, patch, ball and primer. This becomes more the case when under extreme pressure, say, shortly after a less then perfect first shot on a bear.
I agree though about the hunting season. Once a population is up and growing, allowing a very limited hunt to occur and charging for the license, is a great way to actually HELP the griz. It is certainly working in Colorado for the elk.
Guess a sidearm might be a good idea, or make sure a large tree is handy.
On the other hand, they killed 'em with Hawkens before.
"... need to send their members into the woods and count
the bears, unarmed of course, so that we have an accurate
census."
Remind them to smear their bodies with peanut butter flavored bug repellant and sunscreen first
Bear Expert and Companion Killed in Bear Attack at Alaska Park ( New View on Old Story )
AP, via TBO.com ^ | Oct 7, 2003 | By Rachel D'oro
Posted on 10/07/2003 7:48:09 PM PDT by greydog
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A self-taught bear expert who once called Alaska's brown bears harmless was one of two people fatally mauled in a bear attack in the Katmai National Park and Preserve.
The bodies of Timothy Treadwell, 46, and Amie Huguenard, 37, both of Malibu, Calif., were found Monday at their campsite when a pilot arrived who was supposed to take them to Kodiak, state troopers said Tuesday.
Treadwell, co-author of "Among Grizzlies: Living With Wild Bears in Alaska," spent more than a dozen summers living alone with and videotaping Katmai bears. Information on Huguenard was not immediately available.
The Andrew Airways pilot contacted troopers in Kodiak and the National Park Service after he saw a brown bear, possibly on top of a body, at the camp near Kaflia Bay.
Park rangers encountered a large, aggressive male brown bear within minutes of arriving. Ranger Joel Ellis said two officers stood by with shotguns as he fired 11 times with a semi-automatic handgun before the animal fell, 12 feet away.
"That was cutting it thin," said Ellis, the lead investigator. "I didn't take the time to count how many times it was hit."
The victims' remains and camping equipment were flown Monday to Kodiak. Ellis said investigators hope to glean some information from video and still cameras.
As the plane was being loaded, another aggressive bear approached and was killed by rangers and troopers. The bear was younger, possibly a 3-year-old, according to Bruce Bartley of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
The victims' bodies were flown to the state medical examiner's office for autopsy.
Dean Andrew, owner of Andrew Airways, said the pilot was too upset to comment. The company had been flying Treadwell to Katmai for 13 years and Huguenard for the last couple of years. Andrew said Treadwell was an experienced outdoorsman.
Treadwell was known for his confidence around bears. He often touched them, and gave them names. Once he was filmed crawling along the ground singing as he approached a sow and two cubs.
Over the years, Park Service officials, biologists and others expressed concern about his safety and the message he was sending.
"At best he's misguided," Deb Liggett, superintendent at Katmai, told the Anchorage Daily News in 2001. "At worst he's dangerous. If Timothy models unsafe behavior, that ultimately puts bears and other visitors at risk."
That same year Treadwell was a guest on the "Late Show with David Letterman," describing Alaska brown bears as mostly harmless "party animals."
In his book, Treadwell said he decided to devote himself to saving grizzlies after a drug overdose, followed by several close calls with brown bears in early trips to Alaska. He said those experiences inspired him to give up drugs, study bears and establish a nonprofit bear-appreciation group, called Grizzly People.
Grizzly and brown bears are the same species, but "brown" is used to describe bears in coastal areas and "grizzly" for bears in the interior.
The deaths were the first known bear killings in the 4.7-million-acre park on the Alaska Peninsula.
Correct me if I am wrong, but any animal in Yellowstone is naturally protected since you can't hunt in Yellowstone. I am missing something here? These enviros need to get a life.
Feed the bears with liberals and they'd be poisoned off in a year.
I think they should dart a couple of big male grizz
and superglue a greenie to each one...
Take odds on how long it will take the grizzlies to
get rid of the parasites on their backs..
Would they take turns 'grooming each other' or simply
use a rock or tree trunk to rid themselves of them...
To keep salmon on the Endangered List, by eating the few that the seals & sea lions allow to escape, so they can be "saved" from the EEE-villl fishermen?
I believe the two bad bears were from another valley and didn't know Mr. Treadwell intimately like the bears did in his valley.
The bears and wolves kill the deer and elk that people pay to hunt thus reducing the state's income. They also eat people, especially those who think the cuddly Griz won't bother them.
"At best he's misguided," Deb Liggett, superintendent at Katmai, told the Anchorage Daily News in 2001. "At worst he's dangerous. If Timothy models unsafe behavior, that ultimately puts bears and other visitors at risk."
Clearly a prophet. Not only is Tim dead, but his girl friend and two bears all because some former pot-head thought he was Daniel Boone. Idiot.
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