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Sightseers disturb bear feeding habits, biologists warn, but Park Service shows little willingness to redirect human traffic One of the most awe-inspiring wildlife spectacles in the world is the scene of brown bears catching salmon at Katmai National Park. During the summer sockeye salmon runs, brown bears congregate on the Brooks River to capture salmon…
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The sides, unfortunately that is the way it appears, are getting ready for the public meetings for the restoration of a grizzly bear population in Washington’s North Cascades Ecosystem. The first one is March 3 in Winthrop, WA. Here is the complete list. Tuesday, March 3rd in Winthrop from 5-7:30 p.m. at the Red Barn Upper…
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Doom and gloom hardly justified this year- Grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone (GYE) and the Northern Continental Divide ecosystems (NCDE) had a very good year in 2014 when we consider bear mortality. In the GYE there were only 25 confirmed dead grizzlies. In 2013 there were 29 and in 2012 there were 59! In…
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Body found near remote Cub Creek- Reported missing on Sept. 7, the body of Adam Thomas Stewart has been found 3 miles north his camp in Cub Creek in the remote Teton Wilderness area, southeast of Yellowstone Park. Stewart was found near two deer carcasses that the bear was probably eating. The condition of his body has…
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This is a short email that Brian Horejsi sent me on mountain biking and bears. It is a thoughtful review of how mountain biking can have substantial impacts on wildlife. The basic science solidly supports the general claim that bikers and bikes are displacing bears, can contribute to their habituation and are consequently adding negative…
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Environmental groups have asked a federal court in Montana to stop domestic sheep grazing this summer at the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station in southwest Montana. On June 23, 2014, Cottonwood Environmental Law Center, Western Watersheds Project, WildEarth Guardians and Gallatin Wildlife Association filed a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Biological Opinion for…
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Readers who have followed The Wildlife News for awhile may recall an ongoing and often cantankerous debate concerning the efficacy of firearms for deterring bear attacks. While acknowledging that bear spray could be an effective deterrent, a few regular commenters argued vociferously that a gun would be more effective–at least for someone who could quickly…
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Adult male grizzly was shot May 7 near the Cave Falls Road- Idaho spring black bear season began April 15, and the first Greater Yellowstone grizzly death of the season has been logged. An eleven-year old male griz was shot by someone (so far unidentified) just off the Cave Falls Road near the southwest corner of…
Author
Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University. He was a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and was also its President for several years. For a long time he produced Ralph Maughan’s Wolf Report. He was a founder of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He and Jackie Johnson Maughan wrote three editions of “Hiking Idaho.” He also wrote “Beyond the Tetons” and “Backpacking Wyoming’s Teton and Washakie Wilderness.” He created and is the administrator of The Wildlife News.