Living with wildlife; a growing concern
October 4, 2011
By Mike Weland

At 7 p.m. Thursday, October 20, Idaho Fish and Game biologist Becky Haag, on behalf of the Friends of the Kootenai Wildlife Refuge, is going to give a presentation and answer questions on a subject gaining much national attention lately; living with wildlife.

With the population in our rural areas increasing, interactions between people and wild animals are on the rise, and as recent events here show, something isn't working according to plan.

A Bonners Ferry man found himself in deep trouble when he woke to find bear, which turned out to be a threatened grizzly, going after the pigs in his back yard on Highway 1, far removed from the areas of Boundary County set aside in the late 1970s, shortly after the implementation of the Endangered Species Act, where it was assumed such bears would want to be.

Not knowing where his kids were, he used what was at hand, a "plinking" rifle ... his daughter's .220, to defend his family and his property. When that bear turned to follow his mother and sister, Jeremy Hill turned his attention to the safety of his family, but the wounded bear turned back, and Jeremy turned and shot him again.

Rather than leaving an injured animal, Jeremy fired a third shot, putting the animal out of its misery.

He immediately called authorities and reported it, and set off a national furor.

Even while that furor was underway, two hikers were killed in Yellowstone National Park, home of the fictional Yogi and Booboo.

And before a month had passed, a man, Steve Stevenson, died a few feet east of the Idaho/Montana line, victim of mistaken identity and another grizzly bear attack, one in which he died a hero, saving the life of his 20-year-old hunting partner, Ty Bell, a young man who grew up in those mountains and was, as his uncle said, "an experienced mountain man."

They were up in "no man's land," where it's illegal to build roads or trails but where hunters and outdoorsman from around the world come to experience the outdoors.

When Ty called for help, it took a lot of hard working, frustrated people, especially medics, hours to get there. With no back roads open to them, they had no choice but to hike in.

"I was amazed by how many people actually go up there," said Boundary County Sheriff Greg Sprugnl. "There are trails and tracks everywhere."

Border Patrol, the Boundary County Sheriffs Office, the Lincoln County Sheriffs Office, search and rescue teams from both sides of the border and ambulance service providers did their best ... but the terrain and restrictions prevented them from being able to get to such a remote place in time.

"When someone needs help, and we can't get there due to some regulation, for whatever reason, it's demoralizing," Sprungl said.

Until this year, a class like "Living With Wildlife," would have been one that would have been snickered at by most locals.

In recorded local memory, no human has ever died to an attack by a bear, though bear are common here. They tear up trash, eat dog food off the back porch, make a nuisance ... but always run off when confronted by the bright lights of people.

There've even been a few stories of people, mostly new to the area, who've been attacked by wild animals, and in some cases injured ... but that's mostly moose. And those are mostly because the people injured did something dumb. Moose like apples, but they don't like people feeding them apples.

We've had problems with squirrels in bird feeders, deer eating gardens, black bear on the back porch eating pet food, etc. Up here, it's not uncommon to look down and say, "Why yes! This is bear scat! And look ... it is in the woods!"

There's no question that the environmental movement of the 1970s, when Richard Nixon established the Environmental Species Act, has made a difference. Many would argue that the act has ruined the economy of the country ... a place of great natural resources ... while local people have argued all along that the only true wealth we have is what we grow and foster. It's an argument unbalanced by the Endangered Species Act ... which gives the benefit of the doubt to the critters, and the sense to save them to people who have no idea what to do but answer the loudest voice.

Nobody local was surprised that the idea of establishing caribou habitat in Boundary County would fail; caribou rarely, if ever, vistied this part of the woods; they were content with the lichen in Canada. Officials instisted, and Canada sent us many of those docile creatures, right in the middle of habitat set aside for grizzly bear.

No matter the science, stupid doesn't work.

But it did close off and shut down the economic engine of the Northwest ... and open the way for "tourism."

And cut off any hope we have of saving the tourists who flock here who might find themselves in trouble.

What's funny is that the people we might one day save are most liable to sue.

At 7 p.m Thursday, October 20, you'll have the opportunity to hear from an expert, and maybe ... no ... probably not.

It might be more likely that the locals in the audience will show the difference between bear scat and bullshit.