Reintroduce Grizzlies To Washington
Bears
"Feds plan to reintroduce grizzly bears to Washington state's Northern Cascades Initial plans call for release of 3 to 7 bears per year Associated Press Published April 25, 2024 5:25pm EDT"
https://www.foxnews.com/us/feds-plan-reintroduce-grizzly-bears-washington-states-northern-cascades
Dang! I was hoping it would be D.C.
I thought some might when I posted it...8^)))
California state animal is the grizzly. We should send them a bunch. Wyoming would be happy to oblige. :)
Especially the problem bears, Craig! Would go a long way in reducing their homeless problem….
But, but, but there are no problem bears, there are only misunderstood bears!
tfic
I’d donate to this cause.
I’d donate to this cause.
Take ours in NJ. The solution of just using bear proof garbage cans doesnt seem to be working.
“The federal agencies plan to designate the bears as a ‘nonessential experimental population’ to provide ‘greater management flexibility should conflict situations arise.’ That means some rules under the Endangered Species Act could be relaxed and allow people to harm or kill bears in self-defense or for agencies to relocate bears involved in conflict. Landowners could call on the federal government to remove bears if they posed a threat to livestock.”
What more could you ask for? Unless you’re just straight-up Anti-Bear, because maybe you’re afraid of them or something??
The predators have a place in the system, and what they can do FOR hunting is that they can create a reason why development has to be kept in check.
Just seems we’d get a lot farther if we were focused on ensuring that the predators will be managed appropriately, rather than protected absolutely.
“allow people to harm or kill bears” is a stupidly worded statement. If a grizzly attacks you and you have the means to try and defend yourself, you would be an idiot not to try regardless of the law.
I look at it like this - If they weren't a problem then why did the settlers kill most of them and wolves off?
"If they weren't a problem then why did the settlers kill most of them and wolves off?"
Same reason they killed off Buffalo, Passenger Pigeons and any number of other critters maybe?
The government had the Buffalo killed off to contain the Indians and the Passenger Pigeons were killed off for market, and the Bison was also killed for market of their tongues and hides used for machine belts for the industrial revolution but the grizz and wolves were killed off by the settlers protecting their families and livestock, different scenario... The government didn't have the grizz nor wolves killed off and there wasn't much market for them, the settlers did so because they wanted all apex predators gone...
No, not the same reason at all.
Bison were indeed killed off due to market hunting no doubt. They have also never recovered due to habitat loss. Passenger Pigeons were killed due to over hunting. Grizzly's and wolves became problematic due to settlers moving into their habitat and providing them with an opportunity for easy meals. Again, habitat encroachment or loss.
The same basic elements at work and that is essentially poor management practices.
That is what I just said...
I knew an old man in the sixties who told me stories of hunting wolves for the government , the U.S. pretty sure but maybe Canada .
Long as they start the first drop in Pioneer Square, be fine with it.
"I knew an old man in the sixties"
How dare you...8^)))
Just a thought on WHY wolves were a problem for the settlers….
With all of the buffalo carcasses that the market hunters left for the scavengers, what do you suppose happened to the wolf & bear populations?
And then what do you suppose all of those wolves & bears had to eat once the supply of buffalo carcasses dried up??
We’ve seen how effective a very large pack of wolves can be in taking down Elk, so probably not too big a challenge to bring down cattle — especially not for the larger wolves which had evolved as buffalo specialists….
You couldn’t manage a situation worse if you tried, so of course there were conflicts.
And FWIW, no, I do not think that absolute protection counts as “management”…
Should have said 1960s Z , he was a stowaway from Germany ,lived on horse feed on the ship, Mr. Spear , what a character he was . He was in his eighties then .
This is not the result of "Gov't for the people, by the people", instead it's a bunch of ideological bureaucrats forcing this on us.
"The People" in this case made it very clear to the Gov't that we did not want these bears back in our woods. Every town hall meeting was filled with local folks saying "NO!", and our elected representatives backed us up. Nope...they're going to go ahead and do it anyway.
There's a lot of city people from Seattle that come up here to hike and have a "wilderness experience". When it comes to bears, they're clueless, and people are gonna get dead and eaten as a result. The circled area in the image is one of the main areas they plan to park these bears in, and the towns of Darrington, Marblemount, Concrete, etc. will no doubt be seeing these bears on the regular. I live on the outskirts of Concrete.
Greg beat me to it.....if we were talking DC I'd pay for the tickets for the first busload and then set up a "GoFundMe"!
What could possibly go wrong?
I'm all for it, this is not the first time that the bears have been re-introduced. The last ones didn't make it, so not sure why we're doing it again.
“When it comes to bears, they're clueless, and people are gonna get dead and eaten as a result.”
And you don’t think that the average person will be able to figure out that there are solutions out there which stop short of extirpation?
If you aren’t willing to compromise, you will never have to. But that doesn’t mean you’re going to get what you want.
“When it comes to bears, they're clueless, and people are gonna get dead and eaten as a result.” And you don’t think that the average person will be able to figure out that there are solutions out there which stop short of extirpation? "
Don't believe anyone suggested extirpation, just common sense.
But not a lot of support for reintroduction…. which translates into ongoing extirpation.
"This omnivore is extirpated from most of the state; however, two populations of uncertain viability have been identified and each plays an important role in the range-wide conservation and recovery of the species. Grizzly populations in Washington are very small and isolated due to habitat fragmentation caused by human settlement and highways, which makes the species more vulnerable to inbreeding, wildfire, illegal harvest and other threats.
Grizzly bears are currently present in northeast Washington’s Selkirk Mountains, and are infrequently documented in areas near the Canadian border in northern Stevens and Ferry counties. They have not been confirmed in the Washington North Cascades since 1996, and are considered a state endangered species"
https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/species/ursus-arctos#desc-range
