News Release For more Information Contact: Will Boyd, Friends of the
Clearwater, (208) 882-9755 September 10, 2007 Local Conservationists Demand
Changes to Preserve the Clearwater's Grizzlies Last week's killing of a
grizzly bear on the Clearwater National Forest in the Kelly Creek Roadless
Area, an area proposed for wilderness by conservationists and the US Forest
Service, prompted Friends of the Clearwater to demand action from the US Fish
and Wildlife Service. There have been persistent reports of grizzly in the
North Fork Clearwater and Selway- Bitterroot Wilderness since they supposedly
disappeared in the mid-1900s. The letter gives a brief background of
persistent and reliable grizzly reports from the Clearwater basin (North
Fork, Lochsa, and Selway). Its purpose is to prod the US Fish and Wildlife
Service into action to protect grizzlies and their habitat in the region.
Gary Macfarlane of Friends of the Clearwater said, “The Fish and Wildlife
Service, for crass political reasons, never took seriously the reliable
information that grizzly bears are still found in the Clearwater in the North
Fork and Selway country. We predicted that it would take such a tragedy to
wake up the agency. It is a sad statement that little or nothing has been
done to date to protect and recover grizzlies in what the Fish and Wildlife
Service calls the Bitterroot Ecosystem.” The letter points out the Fish and
Wildlife Service has an obligation under the Endangered Species Act. Will
Boyd, Friends of the Clearwater?s Education Director, noted, “The huge
number of black bear permits, the long seasons, and the fact that baiting and
hounding are allowed in hunting black bears makes it even more likely
tragedies like this will happen in the future. The Fish and Wildlife Service
and Idaho Department of Fish and Game must change black bear hunting policies
to make them friendly to grizzly recovery.” Boyd concluded by saying,
“The Clearwater country is northern half of the Big Wild, the largest
relatively intact ecosystem remaining in the lower 48 states. Grizzly bears
are an integral part of this wild region. It is past time the wildlife
agencies take action to protect grizzlies and their habitat in the
Clearwater.”
Bookmark/Search this post with
Big Wild Bi-Weekly
FOC All New Content
FOC iCal File