tileman1814
Kalispell, MT
66, joined Nov. 2007
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Only in calif could one find someone that would come up with an idea this stupid.
I live in Griz country!We don't go anywhere outside of town without a gun!How's that going to workout for the idiot gun grabbers in Ca.
Anybody who is for this idea of bringing Griz back to Ca needs to spend a summer in West Glacier Montana.
One more thing the stats in this article are way old news.
Semper Fi !!!
The mighty grizzly bear ruled California's valleys, forests and coasts with fierce claws and jaws until people shot the last ones nearly a century ago. Now an environmental group is asking the state to consider bringing it back.
In a proposal fanning strong emotions about humans' uneasy relationship with big predators they are trying to save, the Center for Biological Diversity is trying to drum up support for the state to study reintroducing grizzly bears to remote areas such as the Sierra.
Not surprisingly, some critics -- including the state's wildlife agency -- suggest it would be impractical and unsafe to reintroduce the 800-pound grizzly, also known as the brown bear, to the most populated state in the nation.
"Reintroducing grizzly bears to California would be idiotic," said Pete Margiotta, a Walnut Creek resident and longtime hunter. "Somebody is going to get killed."
But the center, a frequent plaintiff in legal disputes over endangered species, says the grizzly bear's recovery from near extinction in the lower 48 states would be more secure if the species expanded its range beyond select areas in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and Washington.
"The grizzly bear is an icon in California history. It's on our state flag, but where is the grizzly bear?" said Jeff Miller, (this guy is a complete f**king moron) a conservation advocate for the national group with an office in Oakland. "There are serious issues to be addressed with reintroduction, but this idea should not be dismissed out of hand because of emotion."
While the last grizzly in the California wild was shot in the early 1920s, there are some 1,400 to 1,700 of them in the lower 48 states, a small fraction of the 50,000 believed to roam between the Pacific Ocean and Great Plains in the early 1800s.
The Center for Biological Diversity has collected some 20,000 signatures on an online petition urging the state Fish and Game Commission to consider studying the feasibility of reintroducing the grizzly, which is listed a federal threatened species.
Environmentalists call the messages part of a broader national campaign of "rewilding" areas to restore large carnivores such as bears, wolves, badgers and otters and protecting large connected habitats for them.
While grizzly attacks on people are rare in North America, the bear's immense size and strength can make for fatal results when people get in the way. In grizzly-occupied Yellowstone National Park, bears have killed eight people over 145 years, compared with the six deaths from fallen trees, five deaths due to lightning and six deaths from avalanches. And their big appetites spur grizzlies to travel long distances in search of food, biologists say.
Jordan Traverso, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, said her agency is concerned that grizzlies would wander from remote areas into less remote ones near people and livestock.
While the Center for Biological Diversity has suggested considering remote Sierra areas for grizzly bear territory, the Sierra has more limited food sources and a shorter growing season than coastal, marsh or valley areas where grizzly bears used to roam, she said.
"We already have many problems with conflicts with wildlife," she said. "I cannot foresee us taking on the burden and extra cost of something like this."
She recalled an adage by one wildlife biologist to describe how smart and crafty bears are in finding food sources: "If bears had opposable thumbs, it would be us eating out of the garbage cans."
Wildlife managers worry whether people could adapt to living or traveling near grizzlies -- learning to carry bear repellent, not making noise to surprise bears, not leaving out food sources, and generally staying clear of bears, especially protective mothers with cubs.
"One important issue is whether people who live in their habitat would value them enough to tolerate them, and tolerating them could mean changing how you live," said Peter Alagona, a UC Santa Barbara associate professor of history, geography and environmental studies.
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cupocheer
Assumption, IL
68, joined May. 2010
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