Dear HCN,
Many of us who follow the
Yellowstone grizzly summer after summer know one thing for certain
about the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee: It is an intensely
political organization (HCN, 11/9/98). Like a political party, most
of its deliberations are in secret and many of its pronouncements
are in the form of propaganda.
Propaganda is
defined in the American Heritage Dictionary as follows: “1. the
systematic propagation of a doctrine or cause.”
In this case, the doctrine is grizzly bear
delisting (never mind that the bear is reduced to 2 percent of its
original range in the contiguous 48 states) and the advocates are
IGBC and Christopher Servheen.
Servheen’s
assertion that outfitters and hunters have cleaned up their act is
incorrect, especially in the Teton Wilderness. In the summer of
1997 there were several incidents on the North Buffalo in the Teton
Wilderness. Specifically, a “problem bear” appeared in Soda Fork
Meadows, “terrorizing” people camped there. On inspection, I found
that what we really had was a problem outfitter. The entirety of
Soda Fork Meadows was a disgrace – garbage, food scraps, etc. There
was much fresh bear sign, and I identified two separate sets of
bear tracks, certainly an unfortunate situation. Two miles upriver,
I found a similar situation at North Fork
Meadows.
It must be said that these locations are
four and six miles respectively from Turpin Meadows, one of the
busiest trailheads in the Teton Wilderness. The extent of
enforcement was the placement of a sign indicating that a bear was
marauding through Soda Fork Meadows.
The
situation in the Thorofare deserves mention as well. Since the
film, A River Runs Through It (better titled A Realtor Runs Through
It), fly fishing has exploded as a sport. Outfitting has increased
exponentially in the Thorofare during this period. There is only
one drainage in the entire Thorofare that is spared the frenzy of
activity associated with these large-scale operations. Most of
these camps are not in compliance with Special Management Area
regulations, and food is often placed on the ground in army-surplus
foot lockers rather than Bear Resistant Food Containers.
I have seen much bear sign at the margins of
these camps and wonder often how many bear mortalities occur
without being reported. Twelve-gauges and 44-magnums are still the
deterrents of choice rather than pepper spray, and much education
needs to be done.
Much of the fire activity in
the Yellowstone Ecosystem in 1988 occurred in the Special
Management Area, forcing grizzly bears to disperse. The rich
whitebark pine-nut stands in the remote drainages of the front
range attract more and more bears every year. Their proximity to
moth sites and lack of human activity make them very attractive. I
observed two sows with cubs of the year in one drainage this very
summer. Yet I think dispersal is often interpreted as proof that
the population is exploding, without the data to back up these
claims.
I don’t share Servheen’s optimism about
the Yellowstone grizzly and I see delisting as a political tool
that allows federal agencies to claim a much-needed victory on
endangered species while putting money in the pockets of outfitters
once a grizzly hunt is
resumed.
Lee
Mercer
Boise,
Idaho
A guidebook author, the
writer has spent over 20 years walking the Yellowstone
ecosystem.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Don’t believe that grizzlies are doing just fine.
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