Good news on the McNeil River bears? Close Call For Alaska’s Famous Bears. State Considers, And Rejects, Allowing Hunters Access To Sanctuary’s People-Friendly Brown Bear. CBS News.
There have been several very warm days, and the snow is melting fast. The first grizzly tracks were spotted on February 28. Story in the Jackson Hole News and Guide. By Cory Hatch. Update: I have been told by a local observer that the bears are out in the Madison Valley (near West Yellowstone) and…
I’m surprised that even Alaska would allow this to happen, if only for economic reasons, but they have elected a reactionary new governor, and the Alaska Board of Game has never been enlightened. This will probably attract the same kind of shooters as those who like to shoot elk, deer behind a high fence. YouTube…
Here is a good article on the dieoff of whitebark pine and grizzly bears. In the Rockies, Pines Die and Bears Feel It. New York Times. By Charles Petit.
The Idaho Statesman has made a good compilation of recent newspaper editorials about the listing of the polar bear — the addition of the polar bear to the endangered species list. Story: Other Views: Polar bears and global warming. Idaho Statesman.
Most listings nowadays, and in the past, have come from conservation groups forcing the species onto the “list,” but in an unusual move the Bush Administration has proposed listing the polar bear, which is suffering the effects of warming in the Arctic. That melts the ice the bears need to hunt from. The polar bear…
Brodie Farquhar muses about hibernation and and two recent stories about it. Nap Time For Yellowstone Bears, But Others Still Awake. New West He wishes he could talk to Yellowstone grizzly biologists to see if warming is causing the bears to hibernate for shorter periods. I don’t know, but I do know that the availability…
Only $9000 paid in Montana in 2006, but the State of Wyoming paid $110,000. The direct explanation for the difference is far fewer livestock killed in Montana than Wyoming. Indirectly, however, the Wyoming compensation formula for grizzly losses is so generous that there is no incentive to protect livestock from grizzlies. A grizzly loss can…
Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University. He was a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and was also its President for several years. For a long time he produced Ralph Maughan’s Wolf Report. He was a founder of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He and Jackie Johnson Maughan wrote three editions of “Hiking Idaho.” He also wrote “Beyond the Tetons” and “Backpacking Wyoming’s Teton and Washakie Wilderness.” He created and is the administrator of The Wildlife News.