B
buglinbull2
Guest
This is the garbage the biggest newpaper in Idaho printed today. It is all blatant lies. Please give me a hand and give them a response back. I would like to show them that printing flat out lies is not acceptable. I know a lot of you guys bait bears.
Our view: Luring bears goes against common sense
- Idaho Statesman
Edition Date: 10/04/07
Hunters teach black bears to Dumpster dive. They introduce the predators to the wonderful taste of Twinkies.
Idaho allows hunters to put garbage in the woods ? a half mile from a campground, picnic area or home ? to attract bears for sport.
In the meantime, Fish and Game and federal wildlife officials plead with campers to properly store and secure food so they don't attract bears.
The contradiction doesn't make sense to us.
It's time to rethink how we treat wild bears.
Baiting bears for sport has long been a fight between those who think baiting is not fair chase and those who do. There's a new twist to the debate ? the safety of non-hunters.
Idaho is one of only nine states that allows baiting bears ? while prohibiting the use of bait to attract any other game animal, including deer and elk and migratory birds. Why an exception, when bears present an increased risk to humans?
Not all bears who feast on bait piles are harvested. Some are let go ? having gained an appetite for what we eat ? as a hunter awaits a trophy kill.
Baiting can habituate bears to non-natural foods. If a bear is attracted to human-generated food, it will be lured to campgrounds for dutch oven chicken.
Developments are stretching closer to prime wildlife habitat. So, too, are campgrounds and hiking trails. We're sharing space with wildlife.
Bears have been spotted at least 16 times in the Treasure Valley over the last two months, including seven in Boise and one treed at East Junior High School.
Fish and Game officials captured and relocated bears from campgrounds all summer. Some were euthanized because they repeatedly returned for campsite raids, including one bear at the popular Redfish Lake.
We should do all that we can to limit these encounters by respecting bears' habits and routines.
They like to eat, and they'll eat anything and everything. They have a tremendous sense of smell ? according to some experts, the greatest sense of smell on earth. They seek out food.
Black bears typically retreat when they see humans, but danger increases if a bear places its need for food ahead of its fear of people.
Severe drought conditions have dried up bears' normal fall food source, berries. With hibernation time nearing, bears are desperately scrounging for another meal.
Don't give them one, we tell campers. Why send a different message to a small, vocal group of hunters?
People are responsible for luring bears into human encounters. The No. 1 lure: Mmm, did someone say people food?
Tom Beck, a hunter and a bear biologist with the Colorado Division of Wildlife, said: "Black bears are naturally wary, instinctively avoiding close contact with humans. But large amounts of tasty food, easily obtained, defeats this wariness. By baiting, we create lazy bears who have been rewarded, not punished, for overcoming their fear of humans.''
Baiting bears creates nuisance bears. We should all stick to what wildlife officials recommend ? and follow common sense to avoid conflicts with bears.
Using bait isn't using common sense.
"Our View" is the editorial position of the Idaho Statesman. It is an unsigned opinion expressing the consensus of the Statesman's editorial board. To comment on an editorial or suggest a topic, e-mail [email protected]
Our view: Luring bears goes against common sense
- Idaho Statesman
Edition Date: 10/04/07
Hunters teach black bears to Dumpster dive. They introduce the predators to the wonderful taste of Twinkies.
Idaho allows hunters to put garbage in the woods ? a half mile from a campground, picnic area or home ? to attract bears for sport.
In the meantime, Fish and Game and federal wildlife officials plead with campers to properly store and secure food so they don't attract bears.
The contradiction doesn't make sense to us.
It's time to rethink how we treat wild bears.
Baiting bears for sport has long been a fight between those who think baiting is not fair chase and those who do. There's a new twist to the debate ? the safety of non-hunters.
Idaho is one of only nine states that allows baiting bears ? while prohibiting the use of bait to attract any other game animal, including deer and elk and migratory birds. Why an exception, when bears present an increased risk to humans?
Not all bears who feast on bait piles are harvested. Some are let go ? having gained an appetite for what we eat ? as a hunter awaits a trophy kill.
Baiting can habituate bears to non-natural foods. If a bear is attracted to human-generated food, it will be lured to campgrounds for dutch oven chicken.
Developments are stretching closer to prime wildlife habitat. So, too, are campgrounds and hiking trails. We're sharing space with wildlife.
Bears have been spotted at least 16 times in the Treasure Valley over the last two months, including seven in Boise and one treed at East Junior High School.
Fish and Game officials captured and relocated bears from campgrounds all summer. Some were euthanized because they repeatedly returned for campsite raids, including one bear at the popular Redfish Lake.
We should do all that we can to limit these encounters by respecting bears' habits and routines.
They like to eat, and they'll eat anything and everything. They have a tremendous sense of smell ? according to some experts, the greatest sense of smell on earth. They seek out food.
Black bears typically retreat when they see humans, but danger increases if a bear places its need for food ahead of its fear of people.
Severe drought conditions have dried up bears' normal fall food source, berries. With hibernation time nearing, bears are desperately scrounging for another meal.
Don't give them one, we tell campers. Why send a different message to a small, vocal group of hunters?
People are responsible for luring bears into human encounters. The No. 1 lure: Mmm, did someone say people food?
Tom Beck, a hunter and a bear biologist with the Colorado Division of Wildlife, said: "Black bears are naturally wary, instinctively avoiding close contact with humans. But large amounts of tasty food, easily obtained, defeats this wariness. By baiting, we create lazy bears who have been rewarded, not punished, for overcoming their fear of humans.''
Baiting bears creates nuisance bears. We should all stick to what wildlife officials recommend ? and follow common sense to avoid conflicts with bears.
Using bait isn't using common sense.
"Our View" is the editorial position of the Idaho Statesman. It is an unsigned opinion expressing the consensus of the Statesman's editorial board. To comment on an editorial or suggest a topic, e-mail [email protected]
