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Saving Black Bears So Hunters Can Kill Them

Saving Black Bears So Hunters Can Kill Them

What’s the point of saving a native creature from extinction if we can’t start shooting the darn things again?

That’s the unspoken philosophy of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which after two decades of protecting the black bear has decided the time has come to open fire.

Despite a loud public outcry, the panel approved a one-week hunt for the last week of October. Because there’s no limit on the number of permits being issued, the chances are good that the hunters will actually outnumber the bears.

What could possibly go wrong?

FWC commissioners cite an increase in human-bear encounters and road kills to justify thinning the bear population, which it estimates at about 3,100. Overdevelopment, habitat loss and hunting had nearly wiped out the animals, which until 2012 were listed as a state endangered species.

Now the goal is to “harvest” more than 300 bears in four management areas from the eastern Panhandle to South Florida. The central part of the state has the most, and will likely attract the most hunters.

It must fairly be said that the FWC did cut the bears a break or two when it set the rules.

Traditionally the animals are tracked by groups of fast dogs, which chase the bear up a tree or into a hollow and keep it there until the hunter arrives.

This isn’t much of a “hunt” on the part of the human, since the dogs are doing all the work. As for marksmanship, shooting a treed bear is about as challenging as shooting a stalled Volkswagen.

However, dogs won’t be allowed on the Florida hunt unless they’re kept on leashes, and only then used to trail a bear that’s been wounded. That restriction won’t placate animal-rights activists, but the absence of dog packs on the scent definitely gives bears a better chance of staying hidden.

Another rule prohibits baiting the animals, a method commonly used in some places. Tasty treats are put out at secluded feeding stations, where the hunters hunker down and watch.

This is like waiting outside a barbecue joint for the bowling team to show up. You know it’s only a matter of time.

During the October hunt, though, bears aren’t supposed to be shot within 100 yards of a game-feeding station, and the stations are supposed to be stocked only with feed for deer and wild hogs.

Again, those opposed to hunting might think that’s not a big deal, but it will make a difference. The reason that dogs and bait are often used is that it’s extremely difficult for one person with a gun to sneak up on a full-grown bear in the woods — which is what pure hunting would be.

If dogs and bait had been banned going back to the 1950s, Florida’s bear population probably wouldn’t have fallen to such low levels. That’s not to say the October hunt is wisely planned, because it’s not.

“Harvest objectives,” a term used by the FWC, implies an overabundance of bears, which is a ludicrous concept in a state this vast. Moreover, the hunt is being staged in remote areas and will do nothing to stem the problem of nuisance bears, which have been responsible for several attacks on persons in suburban neighborhoods.

Those incidents were used to promote the need for a hunting season, but there’s no good science behind that argument. Killing a bear in rural Wakulla County won’t discourage the dumpster-diving rogue in Naples.

Many hunters are active in conservation movements, and let’s hope that holds true for those going for bear. Still, there’s a perverse irony in declaring a species recovered from near-elimination as an excuse to start killing it again.

Perhaps the weirdest part of the FWC’s plan is that it offers an unlimited number of permits. While hunters are allowed to kill only one bear, there are no restrictions on how many hunters go out. (The season will end early if the bear quota is reached.)

Many states tightly regulate the number of hunters, frequently using a lottery system. Not Florida, which will keep cranking out permits until the day before the hunt.

By mid-August more than 1,400 people had already signed up, a trend that would put more armed humans than bears in the woods on Oct. 24.

Among the first hunters to get a permit was Ted Nugent, the gun-slinging rock musician from Detroit.

It might be a good day for all of us to wear orange.

(Carl Hiaasen is a columnist for The Miami Herald. Readers may write to him at: 1 Herald Plaza, Miami, Fla., 33132.)

Photo: Florida black bear mother and cub. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, via Flickr.

Police: Please Don’t Chase Bears With A Dull Hatchet While Drunk

Police: Please Don’t Chase Bears With A Dull Hatchet While Drunk

The little western Massachusetts community of North Adams posted a very peculiar advisory on Monday night: Don’t go chasing after bears yourself.

Also, don’t chase them through the woods.

And oh, don’t do it with a useless hatchet.

And seriously, don’t do all this while you’re drunk.

The local police announced on Facebook that they had apprehended a man for doing everything listed above.

Of course, he’s just lucky that he met up with the police before he ever came face to face with an actual bear.

But perhaps the most surprising thing about this story: It didn’t involve someone in Florida.

Hat tip: Boston.com.

Photo: Luke Jones via Flickr

Bears Are On The Ballot In Maine As Hunting Methods Are Debated

Bears Are On The Ballot In Maine As Hunting Methods Are Debated

By Tina Susman, Los Angeles Times

NEW YORK — It has been a big year for bears in the news, especially in Maine, where voters on Nov. 4 face a question that has bedeviled other bear-heavy states: how to keep the species’ population at bay in the face of pressure from animal rights groups lobbying to ban certain hunting methods.

The campaign around the Maine Bear Hunting Ban Initiative, which will appear on the ballot as Question 1, has shed light on Maine’s unique status in the wildlife world. It remains the only state in the Lower 48 where hunters may use bait, traps, and dogs to nab bears.

Voters are being asked whether these methods should be banned except to protect property, public safety, or for research.

“We think we’ve got a great case to make,” the Humane Society’s chief executive, Wayne Pacelle, said in a heated televised debate Oct. 14. “The fact is, you don’t need to use these methods to hunt the animals. Hunting is supposed to give the animals a chance, and this stacks the deck so badly.”

The Humane Society supports the coalition backing the initiative, which is led by a group called Mainers for Fair Bear Hunting.

Opponents led by a group called Save Maine’s Bear Hunt say the Humane Society’s involvement shows that this is a fight being bankrolled by outside lobby groups with a broader agenda of ending sport hunting nationwide. Save Maine’s Bear Hunt supporters include the state’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, which estimates Maine has more than 30,000 black bears.

“We have one of the largest bear populations in the country, certainly on the East Coast,” said James Cody, the campaign manager for Save Maine’s Bear Hunt. Cody said 93 percent of the kills in last year’s bear hunt involved one of the three methods that could be banned.

The use of bait, in which hunters put out buckets filled with junk food and sweets such as donuts and syrup, was cited in 72 percent of kills, according to state wildlife officials.

Eliminating the methods would send bear numbers soaring, and it would devastate the state’s bear-hunting industry, Cody said.

Each side has garnered at least one celebrity endorsement: Bill Maher supports Question 1; Ted Nugent opposes it.

The Portland Press Herald and the Bangor Daily News have urged “no” votes; the Portsmouth Herald urged a “yes” vote.

Heavy-hitters on the “no” side include the National Rifle Association, the AFL-CIO and Gov. Paul LePage. They face a massive infusion of campaign funds from the Humane Society, the ASPCA and other animal advocacy groups.

Opponents of Question 1 would seem to have momentum on their side, given some recent incidents in states with big bear numbers. The most notorious of these occurred last month in New Jersey, where a 22-year-old hiker was attacked and killed by a black bear.

Officials killed the bear, which a police report described as a large male weighing 250-300 pounds.

Also last month, a Santa Barbara County, Calif., woman fought off a black bear that attacked her while she was walking her dogs. Earlier this month, officials say a black bear devoured the remains of a man who had suffered a heart attack outside his remote home in Northern California.

Mystery still surrounds the discovery of a dead black bear cub in New York City’s Central Park earlier this month. Wildlife officials said the animal appeared to have been hit by a vehicle, but nobody has been able to explain how the bear’s body got to the park, which has no known bears.

Not all the stories have been so grim. Smokey Bear celebrated his 70th birthday and took his message of fire safety onto social media.

But the Maine debate underscores a national reality: Black bear populations have increased, thanks to conservation efforts to protect the species, and so too have bear-human encounters in many areas.

In New Jersey, where Ridgewood police last month captured a black bear roaming near an elementary school, wildlife officials say reports of bear sightings have increased 23 percent over last year. The bear captured in Ridgewood was released back into the wild after it climbed a tree and was shot with a tranquilizer gun.

The latest polls show the “no” side ahead in Maine by a few percentage points, but supporters of Question 1 are hoping that a Maine judge rules in favor of their motion for an injunction to prevent the state’s wildlife department from using public funds to fight the ballot measure.

That ruling is expected this week.

Photo via Wikicommons

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Yosemite Wildfire Crews Also Battling Bears On Fire Lines

Yosemite Wildfire Crews Also Battling Bears On Fire Lines

By Joseph Serna, Los Angeles Times

Crews battling a wildfire in Yosemite National Park have had to deal with steep terrain, dense forest brush, oppressive heat, and now, bears.

According to the U.S. Forest Service, bears have become “a major issue with fire crew safety” in camps and along the fire line.

“Extensive measures are being taken not to attract bears to the food and other supplies,” officials said in a recent update posted online. Trash, they added, is being backhauled daily.

Bears in Yosemite are notoriously resourceful at getting their paws on visitors’ food. Trash at campsites is placed in bear-proof metal bins fastened with carabiners, while food has to be stored in thick metal lockers fastened with a steel rod because the animals have figured out how to break into less-secure containers.

It’s just another wrinkle in firefighters’ effort to knock down the Meadow fire, which believed to have been ignited by lightning in mid-July. For weeks the fire went undetected, quietly burning about 20 acres in a remote section of wilderness. It was eventually discovered in mid-August, but was not considered a danger until Sunday, when strong winds fueled it to some 2,600 acres in a single day.

Until Thursday, many of the park’s most popular areas, including Little Yosemite Valley and the Half Dome trail, were cut off. Hikers who had secured one of the exclusive permits to climb the 8,800-foot Half Dome peak were given refunds.

But in the last couple of days, firefighters have begun to get the upper hand on the blaze, which has now burned about 4,900 acres. The fire is 50 percent contained, the U.S. Forest Service reported.

No injuries have been reported.

Crews have been using the park’s granite barriers to its advantage and have slowed the fire’s spread west, which the Forest Service noted was the park’s top priority because of Half Dome.

Another sign of progress: Half Dome climbers should be able to start their ascent up the steel cables again on Saturday. Access to Little Yosemite Valley, meanwhile, has been reopened.

AFP Photo/Mike Mcmillan

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