Defenders of Wildlife Blog

Erin Edge, Rockies and Plains Associate

In the spring of 2009, two grizzly bears named Rainy and Scarhip were seen frolicking through fields and across highways. Soon thereafter, both bears were captured near Seeley Lake, Montana and fitted with tracking collars. To have any chance of survival, Rainy and Scarhip would have to avoid a variety of temptations, including garbage cans, birdfeeders, and chicken coops – all containing delicious snacks for a hungry bear.

Needless to say, the outlook was not good, and Scarhip was getting into people’s yards almost immediately. But food attractants aren’t the only threat to grizzly bears, and in October of 2009, Scarhip was mistakenly shot and killed by a black hear hunter. Meanwhile, Rainy stayed out of trouble all summer long before heading to her den north of Lake Alva. The following spring she emerged with two cubs and spent the next few months in the Placid Lake area. Then, suddenly, on July 14th, she was documented near Seeley Lake again, feeding on garbage, grain, bird seed and dog food. Females with cubs need as many calories as they can find, and Rainy had hit the jackpot.

That was the beginning of the end for Rainy. Before long, she and her cubs were climbing onto porches, damaging buildings and approaching people. Due to escalating concerns for human safety, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks decided to trap all three bears. But it was too late — one of Rainy’s cubs was hit by a car crossing Highway 83. A month later, FWP trapped Rainy and her remaining cub and sent them to a zoo in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Sadly, the cub died a year later from a rare fungal infection, while Rainy still remains at the zoo.

The saddest part of the story, however, is that the loss of these bears was almost entirely avoidable. Simple solutions like electric fencing are highly effective at securing attractants like bee yards, apple orchards, lambing pastures, chicken coops and compost piles. Other successful deterrents include bear-resistant garbage enclosures and using livestock guard dogs, range riders and alternative grazing methods.

Some of these tools can be expensive, but there are resources available to help residents protect their property and prevent conflict. For example, Defenders of Wildlife started a program in 2010 to help pay for smaller fencing projects. So far the program has secured 58 sites in Montana and helped save grizzly bears.

Take the Morris family, for instance. They’re a 4-H family from northwest Montana with pigs, goats, sheep and chickens. Last year, the Morrises routinely had grizzly bears on their property and had Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks on “speed dial.” They wanted to install a sturdy electric fence but didn’t think they could afford one. FWP directed the Morrises to our incentive program, which helped pay for installing the fence they wanted — a win-win solution for both bears and people. The Morrises finished their electric fence last October and are expecting local wildlife residents to be quite “shocked” when they come around this spring.

Since 1997, Defenders of Wildlife has also been compensating ranchers for livestock losses to grizzly bears. This year, Montana will take this program over through the state’s Livestock Loss Board. Though not a perfect solution, compensation programs help mitigate the financial impact on ranchers and their families. But compensation only addresses conflicts after the damage has already been done. It’s far better to find ways to prevent conflicts from occurring in the first place. And on the rare occasions when these tools aren’t enough, wildlife managers need the flexibility to relocate or remove grizzly bears that are deemed a serious threat to humans.

Aldo Leopold, the grandfather of wildlife conservation, once wrote, “Relegating grizzlies to Alaska is about like relegating happiness to heaven; one may never get there.”

By the late 1800s, this became a real fear. An estimated population of 50,000 grizzly bears plummeted to just a few hundred in less than one percent of their historic range. Fortunately, grizzly bears were protected under the Endangered Species Act in 1975 and have been making a strong comeback ever since. Today, there are approximately 1,700 grizzly bears in the lower 48. Most of us have welcomed these magnificent creatures back to our landscape. But it will take concerted efforts by all of us living in grizzly country to ensure continued recovery of the species. Ultimately, the fate of grizzly bears in Montana and across the West still rests in our hands.

I hope grizzlies are never relegated to Alaska nor happiness to heaven. And hopefully, by working together, we can ensure that our children and grandchildren can continue to find both right here in Montana.

To learn more about what you can do to coexist with grizzly bears, visit defenders.org/GotGrizzlies.

Originally published by Montana Public Radio

Jonathan Proctor, Northern Rockies Representative

I have some great news from Montana: All 14 bad bison bills in the Montana Legislature were defeated!

Legislators opposed to the recent progress on wild bison restoration in Montana (including the restoration of 61 wild Yellowstone bison to Fort Peck Reservation and the increase in tolerance for roaming bison around Yellowstone) made 14 separate attempts this year to legislate wild bison out of existence in the state. And 14 times they were defeated.

Some of the legislation never made it to committee. Some bills did, but then died in committee. Still others made it through committees and one or both chambers, but not through the appropriations process. Three, however, passed through both houses and were sent to Montana Gov. Steve Bullock. If even one had become law, it would have seriously harmed or even ended our bison restoration work.

But thanks to you and many others who contacted the Governor in support of wild bison, he vetoed all three bills that made it to his desk. He vetoed the first one on April 22, and the final two were vetoed just last week. Please take the time to thank him right now with a quick email, a tweet or a post on his Facebook page.

You may recall these bills from my previous blogs. The bills varied in specifics but all were meant to stop wild bison restoration. One would have allowed county commissioners to veto bison restoration anywhere in their counties, even on federal land or tribal land. Another would have allowed landowners to shoot all bison that step on private property as they wander out of Yellowstone National Park. Another would have forced state officials to remove or kill all bison that cross the imaginary Yellowstone boundary. Yet another would have banned bison restoration altogether.

Now, all 14 bills are just bad memories.

Defenders worked tirelessly with our tribal and conservation allies – and with you, our members – to make this happen. My favorite part was working with several tribes to organize and attend a rally they held inside the capitol building rotunda. The event included a drumming circle that reverberated throughout the building and the capitol’s first-ever pipe ceremony. I also thought the full page ad that several tribes placed in many Montana newspapers was very effective. It generated a lot of calls, and a copy was placed on every legislator’s desk just as several of the most damaging bills were coming up for major committee votes.

Although having to spend time fighting bad bills seems like a waste of time and money, it may prove beneficial in the long run for wild bison restoration. Bison supporters – tribes, hunters and conservationists – are working together now on bison conservation more than ever, and many tribes seem more eager to restore wild bison. More Montanans have heard about this issue as a result and are overwhelmingly on the side of wild bison.

Thank you to everyone who worked together to defeat these bills, especially representatives of the Assiniboine, Gros Ventre, Sioux, Salish, Kootenai, Nez Perce, Crow and Blackfeet Tribes; the Native American Caucus; tribal organizations like Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council and InterTribal Buffalo Council; hunting organizations like Gallatin Wildlife Association; lobbyists Ben Lamb and Jake Troyer; and conservation organizations including World Wildlife Fund, Buffalo Field Campaign, and National Wildlife Federation.

And thank you to our Montana members who contacted our state legislators, and all Defenders’ members for the support you’ve provided that makes outcomes like these possible. We can all breathe a sigh of relief (for now) and celebrate, knowing that bison still have a bright future in Montana. The legislature won’t meet again until 2015, and by then we hope even more Montanans will support the return of wild bison.

Jonathan Proctor, Northern Rockies Representative 

Earlier this month, the Montana Supreme Court heard arguments from Defenders of Wildlife and others in a case that will have far-reaching impacts on the future of wild bison restoration across Montana.

You may recall our participation last spring in the transfer of 61 wild bison to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, as well as the community celebration that followed. This marked the end of a 130-year absence of wild bison from these tribal lands, home to the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes. It was also the first restoration of genetically pure Yellowstone bison to the Great Plains.

But on the very day the bison arrived at Fort Peck Reservation, bison opponents asked a judge to order the removal of these wild bison. Yes, you read that correctly; bison opponents wanted a forced removal of wild bison from these tribal lands, as was done in the 1880s.

They didn’t get that wish, but they did convince the judge to stop any further wild bison restorations until a full hearing of the issue could be heard in his courtroom. This effectively stopped a planned transfer of half of these genetically pure bison to the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, 180 miles to the west, where the Assiniboine and Gros Ventre Tribes also planned to start a new wild herd. That move remains on hold.

Meanwhile, Defenders of Wildlife and National Wildlife Federation intervened in support of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (who approved the move), and appealed to the Montana Supreme Court to overturn the lower court’s decision.

The Montana Supreme Court heard this case last Friday in a large theater on the University of Montana campus in Missoula so that the public could watch the proceedings. Hundreds attended. Defenders joined with our tribal allies and a drumming group from the Fort Belknap Reservation in a gathering in front of the theater before the hearing to explain to the many reporters and attendees how vital wild bison are to restoring the human cultures and natural landscapes of the Great Plains. This gathering and the court hearing made headlines in newspapers, on television and on radio across the state.

Our attorney, Tim Preso from the Bozeman office of Earthjustice, did a spectacular job during the hearing, arguing that the court should reverse the lower court’s decision and allow bison restoration to continue. His last words made quite an impression on the crowd:

“The reason this case is important and has substantial public interest and the reason this court’s decision is important is highlighted in something the Fort Peck  Tribes wrote in their amicus brief where they described their own receipt of bison and said:

‘The Tribes were finally successful after a 130 year break in the historic relationship in reuniting the descendants of the Assiniboine and Sioux people who survived the 19th century with the descendants of wild bison that survived the bison holocaust of the same period.’

That’s why this case is important… and that’s why it’s important for this court to clear the way for the Fort Belknap Tribes to be able to enjoy that same reunion.”

We await the Supreme Court’s decision.

Jonathan Proctor, Rockies and Plains Representative 

As I wrote last week, there are a number of anti-bison bills sailing through the Montana state legislature this year. These bills pose all kinds of threats to wild bison, including stopping restoration of wild Yellowstone bison to other parts of the state and allowing landowners to kill all bison that set hoof on private land. We have been working hard with Native American tribes, sportsmen’s groups and other conservation organizations to stop these bills.

On Tuesday, we all held a rally inside the Montana capitol building in Helena. Bison supporters from across the state were there to show legislators that the people of Montana want wild bison. Native American tribes from across Montana ran the event, and the crowd was predominantly from Montana’s seven Indian reservations. Dr. Ken Ryan, tribal elder from the Fort Peck Reservation Assiniboine tribe, held what we think is the first-ever pipe ceremony in the capitol building. Senator Sharon Stewart-Peregoy, a member of the Crow tribe, gave a talk that brought the crowd to their feet. A performance from Fort Belknap Reservation’s Wahkpa Nakoda Drum Group reverberated throughout the building. The message was clear: Kill the bills, not the bison.

News of the rally appeared in the Great Falls Tribune with a nice video of the event, the Bozeman Chronicle, Montana Public Radio, and local television stations. With so many Montanans speaking out in support of bison and against these harmful bills, we hope these attacks on Montana’s wild bison will soon come to a close.

We’ll keep you posted on our progress. In the meantime, check out these photos from the rally:

 

Jonathan Proctor, Rockies and Plains Representative

The Montana legislature meets in Helena, our state’s capital, every other year for just four months. Our elected representatives have a lot of work to do in that time, but for a few anti-wildlife legislators there seems to be plenty of time to beat up on bison. A whopping 10 anti-bison bills have been proposed this year, including one to allow private landowners to shoot any bison that sets hoof on private land and force the state to remove the carcass, another to allow county commissioners to veto bison restoration efforts, and one even calling for all wild bison to be removed or shot on sight.

Defenders is working overtime to stop all of these bills. We’re working closely with a diverse group of bison supporters to testify against these bills and tell the public what is going on in Helena. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with tribes, sportsmen and other conservation groups, we’re rallying all bison supporters to let the legislature know that Montanans want wild bison and oppose these awful bills.

Working together is the only way we will succeed in Montana’s legislature, and we’ve had some great success so far: At least five bills have already been defeated! But each bill that remains and is still moving is detrimental to our efforts to restore wild, genetically-pure bison to places within their historic Great Plains landscape. We want to see every piece of damaging legislation defeated.

According to a recent poll, 68 percent of Montanans support the return of wild bison to public and tribal lands in the state. But you’d never know it from some of the voting results in the legislature. Apart from the bills that we have already defeated, one anti-bison bill passed the House 61-37, and three bills passed the Senate by wide majorities. But they are not yet law and we still have a short window in which to stop them.

Spokespeople from the Assiniboine, Gros Ventre and Sioux tribes of the Fort Peck and Fort Belknap Reservations in eastern Montana have been working especially hard, showing up to oppose these bills and challenge those who repeatedly claim that “nobody in eastern Montana wants these bison.” These tribes not only want wild bison, but are actively working to restore them to their reservations.

For many years Defenders has worked with Robert Magnan, Director of the Fort Peck Reservation bison program, to restore genetically pure Yellowstone bison to tribal lands. He has repeatedly traveled the eight hours to Helena to testify against many of these bills that would stop any further bison restoration, including to tribal lands. Sadly, he’s had to make the same arguments this year that he made in 2009 and again in 2011 to defeat similar anti-bison bills from state Senator Brenden (R-Scobey). Defenders has been there each time as well.

We’ve also had a long collaborative partnership with Mark Azure, Director of the Fort Belknap Reservation bison program. We hope to help Fort Belknap reintroduce genetically pure Yellowstone bison later this year, but these bills threaten this plan. Mark has traveled to Helena again and again to testify against several of the bills, and recently wrote a guest column that appeared in many Montana papers.

Tribes with treaty rights to hunt wild bison on public lands, such as the Salish, Kootenai and Nez Perce tribes, have also actively opposed these bills. Should any of these bills become law, “I guarantee there will be litigation,” said John Harrison, an attorney for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in Western Montana, in a recent news article. “When (tribes) talk about treaty rights, it’s as sacred to them as the Constitution is to American citizens.”

These Native American tribes are our greatest allies for wild bison. They have stepped forward as the leaders in wild bison restoration, even while many governmental agencies remain largely silent and noncommittal. Sportsmen’s organizations are also turning their attention more and more to restoring wild bison on the Great Plains after a long history of restoring wildlife such as deer, elk and wild sheep. Their involvement is important because they have a lot of clout at the state level.

My testimony against these bills on behalf of Defenders’ 4,500 Montana members and supporters focused on the collaborations on wild bison conservation. In addition to working with tribes to restore wild bison to tribal lands, we have also been working with others to secure more protective policies for dealing with Yellowstone bison when they step outside the park. As a member of the “bison citizens working group” on Yellowstone bison, we met for more than a year with ranchers, landowners, local businesses and other bison advocates to find common ground on the management of Yellowstone bison when they leave  the park. We found many things we could agree upon, and several of them are being implemented now, giving bison additional freedom to roam out of the park without being killed. These are small but important steps. If this diverse group of Montanans can come together on behalf of the state’s wild bison, we expect the legislature to take our results seriously and not ruin our efforts with these anti-bison bills. Together, we are fighting these bills so that the iconic creatures that once roamed the Great Plains by the millions can be seen wild in key places of the American west once again.

Click here to support our efforts to fight anti-bison bills in Montana and other legislation that threatens wildlife.

John Motsinger, Communications Specialist

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission announced on Friday that it is unlikely to reinstate wolf hunting and trapping closures near Yellowstone National Park. The Commission was supposed to revisit their December decision during a teleconference on Jan. 29, but said they “have simply run out of time.”

The closures were initially instated following the killing of several wolves that spent much of their time inside the park. Though killed legally by hunters outside the park, at least five of the wolves wore tracking collars that allowed researchers to monitor their behavior and study interactions with prey species. A few of the wolves were among some of the most famous wolves in the world, including the alpha female of the highly visible Lamar Canyon pack.

Yellowstone wolves have proven to be extremely valuable to researchers as well as the local economy. That’s why Montana wildlife officials took action to protect these iconic and important animals. However, the closures were challenged by anti-wolf groups who believe hunters and trappers should be allowed to continue killing wolves just outside of Yellowstone. Based on a legal technicality, wolf opponents were able to convince a Montana judge to halt the closures, keeping the zones open to hunting and trapping until the case could be heard in court.

The Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission was planning to revisit their decision and potentially reinstate the closures this week, but now the state commissioners are also facing intense opposition from the Montana legislature. A bill that’s been recently introduced would prevent the commission from closing any areas next to any national parks to wolf hunting or trapping. Once again, politicians are trying to take control of wildlife management rather than allowing professional biologists to do their job.

Unfortunately, the statewide wolf hunting and trapping season will now simply close on February 28 as originally planned, without any protections in place for wolves near Yellowstone National Park. We are very disappointed, but are encouraged by the fact that the Commission heard from many Montanans that Yellowstone wolves are too important to manage recklessly. With the strong support Defenders members and other Montanans showed for the Commission’s efforts to protect Yellowstone wolves, hopefully they will put wolf hunting and trapping closures in effect again next year – if the Montana legislature and Governor let them.

In the meantime, we continue to fight the poor decisions and irresponsible practices that affect wolves throughout the Northern Rockies, which have faced incredible adversity since they were congressionally delisted in 2011. That decision – motivated more by politics than science – paved the way for aggressive wolf management policies. Any day now, we will pass the sad milestone of 1,000 wolves in the region killed by hunting and trapping since the delisting. This accelerated killing demonstrates how states like Wyoming are managing wolves as vermin to be eliminated, not as wildlife to be managed responsibly.

We are working hard on the ground and in the courts to get wolves the protection they deserve. Your help makes all the difference in the world. Thank you for working with us to speak up for wolves and all wildlife.