New West Feature

In Colorado, a proposed bill to extend black bear hunting season has been met with opposition from environmental groups and support from the agricultural community.

House Bill 1294, sponsored by Rep. J. Paul Brown, R-Ignacio, would allow the Division of Wildlife to remove restrictions on hunting bears between March 1 and Sept. 1 in the state, a legislative response to increasing conflicts between humans and bears. The bill won agricultural-committee approval 8 to 5 on April 18.

“Conflicts are not a function of more bears on the ground, although we do believe we may have more on the ground,” said Randy Hampton, statewide spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Wildlife. “There are other factors at play, such as increasing human population, increasing energy development and increasing recreational use.”

Ranchers and others involved with agriculture continue to struggle with bears, particularly in the spring when black bears may kill calves and sheep, said Shawn Martini, spokesperson for the Colorado Farm Bureau.

Wildlife Management

A hunter from Highlands Ranch pleaded guilty this month to a felony and several misdemeanors in a case that highlights a growing concern for Colorado wildlife managers—hunters who fail to correctly identify big game animals.

After a three-month long investigation by the Colorado Division of Wildlife, Joel D. Eady, 30, was charged with willful destruction of wildlife, a Class 5 felony, as well as hunting out of season, illegal possession of wildlife and failing to properly care for a harvested animal. The investigation showed that Eady failed to report the incident in a timely manner. This incident happened during a hunting trip in October 2010 in the Missouri Creek Basin, about 30 miles east of Meeker.

“The biggest concern here is that Mr. Eady never reported this to us,” said District Wildlife Manager and lead investigator Jon Wangnild. “We understand that mistakes happen and we will usually be more lenient with someone who reports an accident right away, but failing to report this incident turned a careless mistake into a felony.”

Following Eady’s guilty plea in Rio Blanco County District Court, Judge Gail Nichols sentenced Eady to three years of supervised probation and a $5,177 fine. The conviction means Eady may face a lifetime suspension of his hunting privileges, pending a review by a Division of Wildlife hearing examiner.

New West News

The U.S. Senate approved a must-pass budget bill on Thursday, removing wolves in Montana and Idaho from Endangered Species Act protections and placing wolf management under state game departments.

A rider in the budget bill, sponsored by Democratic Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, returns the legal playing field back to 2009 when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had delisted the wolves in Montana and Idaho. Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho, chairman of the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, attached a similar measure to the House version of the budget bill.

“This is a responsible step, and a step I think needed to happen,” said Tester, in a late-afternoon conference call with reporters.

The budget bill passed in the Democratically-controlled Senate 81-19 and earlier in the Republican-controlled House 260-167.

New West News

“We’re trying to get out of this stalemate,” Mead said.

The key to the plan, which was originally suggested by USFWS, is what Mead called a “flex line” adjustment to the current boundary line separating trophy wolves in and immediately around Yellowstone, and the rest of the state where wolves are regarded as predators and can be shot on sight.

The flex line would extend the trophy boundary south about 90 miles from the current line near Jackson, down to Big Piney, including Sublette County and much of Star Valley in Lincoln County. But the flex line extension would last only for five months of the year, November to March.

New West Wildlife

Molloy’s denial of the settlement places the 1,300 wolves of Montana and Idaho back under ESA protections – for now, but for how long?

The settlement, prompted by concerns over livestock and wildlife losses to wolf predation, was widely viewed as an attempt to preempt Congress from enacting a delisting based on politics, rather than science. Conservation groups were horrified by the prospect of such a precedent, viewing it as a big step toward gutting the ESA. There’s little to no indication that, had the settlement passed muster with Molloy, it could have slowed or halted the Congressional rush to delist northern Rockies wolves.

Montana’s Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg’s H.R. 509 would delist wolves in the lower 48 states. Democratic Montana Sen. Jon Tester and Idaho Republican Rep. Mike Simpson have language in the federal budget bill that would delist Montana and Idaho wolves, turning management over to state game agencies and banning judicial review. Tester said this week he’s confident the rider will pass. 

National Park News

Recent observations of bear tracks in the snow indicate bears are emerging from hibernation and venturing out looking for food in and around Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks.

Signs of Yellowstone’s bears emerged earlier this month when park employees observed grizzly tracks on Mary Mountain, roughly near the center of the lower loop of the park’s Grand Loop Road. 

Tracks were spotted in Glacier this week, prompting Park Superintendent Chas Cartwright to remind visitors: “Bear tracks in the snow are a good reminder that Glacier National Park is bear country and park visitors need to be alert for bear activity and to be familiar with and comply with safety regulations.”

New West Feature

The 10 conservation groups that have agreed to the settlement are Cascadia Wildlands, Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, Greater Yellowstone Coalition, Hells Canyon Preservation Council, Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, Natural Resources Defense Council, Oregon Wild, Sierra Club and Wildlands Network.

The deal also calls upon USFWS to convene a scientific panel to reexamine the original wolf-recovery goal of 300 wolves. The current tally is based on 705 wolves in Idaho, 566 in Montana, 343 in Wyoming and some 40 in Oregon and Washington. No resident wolves are believed to currently be in Utah.

“Interior will look at wolf recovery in the region, based on the best available science. This is a very big deal,” said Bill Snape, senior counsel for the Center for Biological Diversity.

Conservation groups and independent biologists have insisted that 300 is too low and nonsustainable, calling instead for a population target beyond the current count of 1,651 – perhaps as many as 2,000 to 5,000.

For advocates of the deal, the settlement would allow wolf populations to grow in Wyoming, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming and Utah, expanding into new habitat with a good prey base. 

New West Feature

More than 800 antelope have been hit by trains on the Montana Hi-Line this winter. It sounds like a bizarre accident, but officials say it’s because of combination of unusual factors.

This winter’s been one of the snowiest on record for Montana. It’s been especially bad in the northeastern part of the state, where the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Hi-Line track runs by Glasglow, Mont. As of Feb. 1, the area had received 70 inches of snow for the winter.

Migrating antelope trying to get away from the snow often end up on the railroad tracks, which are kept cleared, said Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesman Mark Sullivan. They also can’t jump fences, he said, which is why they often follow the railroad for long distances until there’s a break in the fencing or an open gate.

When a train comes along, the antelope don’t stand a chance.

New West Feature

The shorter season gives ungulates less time to build the necessary fat reserves that get them through harsh winters. Additionally, it may help to explain why elk numbers are sagging in the area, says Arthur Middleton, a Ph.D. student based in the Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at the University of Wyoming and coordinator of the Absaroka Elk Ecology Project.

“The way I think about it,” Middleton says, “and maybe the best way to put it pretty bluntly, is summer is when these animals make their living. That’s when they gain all the fat that we’re worried about them losing too quickly in the winter. If they’re not gaining as much as they need or could, (winter) doesn’t matter. The relative importance of what goes on in winter is lessened.”

New West Op-Ed and Series

When do you decide, despite how easy it may be to feel that your voice is insignificant, that it’s time to leap across the chasm that can sometimes seem to separate individuals from the decision-making process? When is it time to remind yourself, and others, that our elected representatives are public servants who work for us, and that it’s time to go talk to them?

Over the next few days, I’ll be traveling to Washington, D.C., with a group of dedicated hunters and anglers, including the individuals described above, and members of Sportsmen For Responsible Energy Development, to find out.