News - April 2024
GRIZZLY BEARS ARE MAKING A COMEBACK [HUFFPOST - FEBRUARY 9, 2024]
WOLF TRAPPING BLOCKED IN MUCH OF IDAHO TO PROTECT THREATENED GRIZZLIES [COURTHOUSE NEWS SERVICE - MARCH 20, 2024]
WOLF TRAPPING BLOCKED IN MUCH OF IDAHO TO PROTECT THREATENED GRIZZLIES [COURTHOUSE NEWS SERVICE - MARCH 20, 2024]
Commentary by Tom Skeele, CCC
Posted on April 16, 2024
Why didn't the grizzly bear cross the road? Because Interstate 90 served as a block.
Or, as Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (MTFWP) emphasized in a 2022 article, the bear was "stymied" (see https://fwp.mt.gov/.../montana.../2022/grizzlycrossing.pdf).
From that publication:
"Costello mapped [the bear's] locations and was struck by what she saw. 'Over 29 days in fall of 2020 and 24 days in spring of 2021, he appeared to have attempted to cross Interstate 90 at least 46 times,' she says. The bear finally made it past the obstacle in early May 2021, 'probably by walking or even swimming under a set of highway and railroad bridges crossing the Clark Fork River,' Costello says."
The grizzly bear featured in this publication has been dubbed "Lingenpolter."
And while this MTFWP article is from two years ago, recently it has been making the rounds on social media because of a February 9th article in HuffPost, titled "Grizzly Bears Are Making A Comeback."
The HuffPost article discusses how grizzly bears are starting to reoccupy the Bitterroot region of the U.S. Northern Rockies. The article explains the implications this way:
"The breakthrough made Lingenpolter one of several grizzlies in recent years to bust his way past the formidable obstacles blocking bears from traveling toward the Bitterroot ecosystem, a region that stretches across northern Idaho and a small swath of western Montana."
"Grizzly conservationists have long viewed the region as a key area for recovering the keystone species, whose range in the contiguous United States has been reduced to a handful of recovery zones since being listed as “threatened” in the Lower 48 under the Endangered Species Act. But for two decades, the federal government took no action to urge restoration to the Bitterroot, even though the mission to return bears there is written into federal law."
"That hands-off policy is quickly changing now that grizzlies are wandering back into the area on their own."
Photo Credit: from Yellowstone Safe Passages.
WOLF TRAPPING BLOCKED IN MUCH OF IDAHO TO PROTECT THREATENED GRIZZLIES [COURTHOUSE NEWS SERVICE - MARCH 20, 2024]
WOLF TRAPPING BLOCKED IN MUCH OF IDAHO TO PROTECT THREATENED GRIZZLIES [COURTHOUSE NEWS SERVICE - MARCH 20, 2024]
WOLF TRAPPING BLOCKED IN MUCH OF IDAHO TO PROTECT THREATENED GRIZZLIES [COURTHOUSE NEWS SERVICE - MARCH 20, 2024]
Commentary by Tom Skeele, CCC
Posted on April 4, 2024
Last week, a federal judge in Idaho ruled that year-round wolf trapping and snaring should be stopped across much of Idaho because the traps are likely to capture and harm grizzly bears.
The attached article highlights the fact that "the judge ruled wolf traps were likely to ensnare grizzly bears even if all procedures were properly followed."
Congrats and thanks to the many conservation organizations who challenged the state of Idaho's liberal wildlife control, er, ah, management policies.
Photo Credit: from Courthouse News Service article.
GULO GULO ON THE OREGON COAST!?!?! [OREGON DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE - MARCH 25, 2024]
WOLF TRAPPING BLOCKED IN MUCH OF IDAHO TO PROTECT THREATENED GRIZZLIES [COURTHOUSE NEWS SERVICE - MARCH 20, 2024]
GULO GULO ON THE OREGON COAST!?!?! [OREGON DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE - MARCH 25, 2024]
Commentary by Tom Skeele, CCC
Posted on April 1, 2024
Gulo gulo on the Oregon Coast!?!?!
According to an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) social media post, "Everyone needs a trip to the coast every now and then, right? Wolverine sightings continued this year with confirmed reports in Nehalem, Netarts and Newport over the last week and a half! The most recent sighting was in Newport on Thursday, March 21. ODFW investigated and verified these sightings."
And, no, this is not an April 1st joke. Here's my take on this unusual sighting.
Maybe you know that the wolverine's scientific name is Gulo gulo, and that in latin "gulo" means glutton? Similar to ODFW, I guess this wolverine was very hungry for some coastal time. That is something I can relate to, because after 30+ years of living in the mountains (some where wolverines still remain), I now call the Pacific coast my home. But I doubt this critter will stay on the coast as long as I have (eight years now).
Photo Credit: image from ODFW post.