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All Politics Articles
A poor food supply combined with more public awareness has translated into more complaints about black bears across B.C., but fewer euthanized and relocated bears.
There were nearly 17,600 complaints about problem black bears this past spring and summer, according to data provided to The Sun by the B.C. Ministry of Environment. In 2010, there were 17,625 calls. In both years, the number of calls far exceeded the 15-year average of 12,550.
Brian Hubkey of Carson Valley, Nev., sees the chance to stalk a bear with a bow and arrow as an opportunity for outdoor adventure he can share with his family.
"If we're successful, great. If not, so be it," Hubkey says of Nevada's first legal hunt for black bears.
He and others are on the hunt for bears in Nevada's mountains, now that the state has become the latest to establish a bear hunting season.
A former Canmore author came to town to shed light on what he sees as the way forward for grizzly bears in the area.
Jeff Gailus author of the Grizzly Manifesto and, a forthcoming title, Little Black Lies, spoke to the role that he sees for Parks Canada, given what he characterized as an ineffective effort by the province of Alberta to protect its bears.
Chloe O'Loughlin is welcoming the B.C. Liberal government's "huge announcement" that it plans to legislate a ban on mining and oil and gas development in the Flathead River Valley.
But the Vancouver-based environmentalist cautions that the move is just a "good first step", as more needs to be done to ensure the area in the province's southeastern corner is protected.
After years of actively working towards making Whistler visitors and residents more bear smart, as well as taking steps to make the town more bear proof, this week Whistler was recognized by the provincial government as one of only four "Bear Smart" communities in B.C.
Joining Squamish and Kamloops, the first two communities accepted into the program in 2009, Whistler and Lions Bay received the designation from B.C.'s Minister of Environment Terry Lake on Thursday (Sept. 29).
For the past three years Bear No. 8's behaviour was becoming increasingly worrisome.
It sprinted after cyclists, charged dog walkers and held a Canadian Pacific train hostage when it stood its ground on a grain car and wouldn't let workers near.
On Monday, the six-year-old male grizzly bear stalked two people in Banff National Park, chasing them up a tree, where they sat in fear and panic for two hours.
Gallatin County District Judge Mike Salvagni on Monday handed an Alaskan fishing guide a 20-year prison sentence, suspending all 20 years, for poaching elk, deer and antelope over several years. The judge also ordered Michael P. Duby, 37, to pay $15,500 in fines and restitution.
Duby pleaded no contest in April to four felony charges of illegal possession of game animals, saying he was "unable to admit" to any of the charges because federal charges are pending and a guilty plea could incriminate him.
For more than two decades, Simon Jackson's life has centred on 400 bears. When he was 7, he saw his first wild bear, a Kodiak, while on a camping trip with his parents. The camping trip ignited Mr. Jackson's interest in bears and at the age of 13 he began his 16-year campaign to save the spirit bear, also known as the Kermode bear, named after Frank Kermode, former director of the Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria.
PORT COQUITLAM - Port Coquitlam is now enforcing bear regulations in its solid waste bylaw on both the north and south sides of the city for the first time, according to a press release from the city.
Bear regulations have been enforced on the north side since they were introduced in 2009. Lately, however, an increasing number of bears have been spotted in south side neighbourhoods - especially near the Coquitlam River and Colony Farm.
The one-time bear man of Alaska's capital city pleaded guilty to a single count of feeding game last week.
As his penalty for trying to make pets of about a dozen black bears, 65-year-old Arnold W. Hanger was ordered to pay the state $4,000 and perform 80 hours of community-service work for the Wildlife Division of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. In addition, he will spend two years on probation.
Alberta environmental groups called on the provincial government Monday to reduce the number of roads and trails in bear habitats.
Pointing to two recent studies, the groups said the concentration of roads in some areas exceeds the province's own limits. And they say more roads means more access for the public, which is putting more pressure on the bears.
Four years ago the Alaska Legislature offered Gov. Sarah Palin and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game a special deal: $400,000 to "educate" voters on predator control. The money -- spent mostly on a video, glossy brochures and public presentations -- was meant to persuade and reassure Alaskans that predator control is essential and effective.
Firmly convinced he's doing the right thing, the new director of the Division of Wildlife Conservation at Fish and Game, Corey Rossi, is taking predator control to new levels. For the first time since statehood, Alaska has targeted grizzly bears for large-scale population reductions, not by hunters but by agents of the state.
Removing grizzly bears from Endangered Species Act protection in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem would be premature and not based on known science, the head of a regional conservation group said last week.
Greater Yellowstone Coalition Executive Director Mike Clark made the comments Thursday while on a trip to Jackson.
You may have read about the Spirit Bears of the Great Bear Rainforest in Kermode Bears or in Pipeline Through Paradise both featured in the August 2011 National Geographic Magazine. These articles feature images by Paul Nicklen and were supported by imagery from an expedition to the Great Bear Rainforest September 2010 with the International League of Conservation Photographers. See what it takes to capture stunning imagery in this wild landscape with a behind the scenes footage and interview with Paul Nicklen here and an eyewitness account of this amazing ecosystem and the people and wildlife that call if home with photographer and conservationist Ian Mc
It was seen as one of the most distressing effects of climate change ever recorded: polar bears dying of exhaustion after being stranded between melting patches of Arctic sea ice.
But now the government scientist who first warned of the threat to polar bears in a warming Arctic has been suspended and his work put under official investigation for possible scientific misconduct.
Charles Monnett, a wildlife biologist, oversaw much of the scientific work for the government agency that has been examining drilling in the Arctic. He managed about $50m (£30.5m) in research projects.
VICTORIA - When conservation officers respond to a bear or cougar in a populated area, the animal will usually be shot rather than relocated, says B.C.'s top conservation officer.
Risk to humans is the sole consideration when a conservation officer decides whether to kill an animal, said Tom Clark, conservation service head.
"It's a case-by-case basis, but it's based on risk to public safety. If wildlife calls are made and it's determined public safety is at risk, the expectation is that the conservation officer will have to destroy the animal," he said.
Canada is set to include the polar bear on its list of species at risk, but not as a threatened or endangered species.
The federal government gave notice this month that it intends to list the Arctic animal as a species of special concern - one level below threatened and two levels below endangered - under the Species at Risk Act.
The move would require a plan to be devised within three years to prevent the species from becoming endangered or threatened.
BOZEMAN, Mont. - Gallatin National Forest managers, on recommendations of grizzly bear experts, have banned tent camping at three campgrounds near Yellowstone National Park, including one where a Michigan man was mauled to death last July.
The requirement for hard-sided recreational vehicles only is in effect for the Soda Butte, Colter and Chief Joseph campgrounds just east of Cooke City because bears frequent those areas, forest officials said Wednesday.
Following the mauling death of Kevin Kammer, 48, of Grand Rapids, Mich., and an attack on two others at the Soda Butte campground last July 28, forest supervisors for the six national forests in the Yellowstone region asked grizzly bear experts to recommend how to manage campgrounds in the area.
The independent assessment, written by WCS Senior Conservation Scientist Dr. John Weaver, is a compilation and synthesis of the latest information on these species - and how climate change may affect them - from 30 biologists in the region and from nearly 300 scientific papers. In addition, Weaver spent four months hiking and riding horseback through these remote roadless areas to evaluate their importance for conservation.
The Crown of the Continent is a trans-border ecosystem of dramatic landscapes, pristine water sources, and diverse wildlife that stretches more than 250 miles along the Rocky Mountains from Glacier National Park-Bob Marshall Wilderness in Montana north to the Canadian Rockies. Weaver focused his assessment on public lands in the Montana portion -one of the most spectacular and intact ecosystems remaining in the lower 48 states. Since 1910 when Glacier National Park was established, citizens and government representatives have worked hard to protect the core wildlands and wildlife in this region.
It seems like everybody loves grizzly bears these days. They're one of the most recognizable emblems of Montana's rugged western culture. Just look at the shops in Missoula: Grizzly Grocery, Grizzly Hackle, Grizzly Liquor. The bear has been the University of Montana's mascot for over a century. UM even toted grizzly cubs to sports games up until the 1960s; now a person in a grizzly costume, the crowd-pleasing, back-flipping Monte, has replaced them.
Yet perceptions of the bears as ferocious, carnivorous beasts persist in parts of rural Montana, even though the idea of the grizzly as a man-eater is a gross exaggeration. It was western settlers who embraced that notion, followed by ranchers, hunters, and poachers, who used it to justify destroying the species. Some estimate that there were as many as 100,000 grizzlies in the lower 48 states in the early 19th century. Now, according to the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, fewer than 1,500 remain.
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