There is a stir among environmentalists: The Wyoming Game and Fish has ordered that twenty-two permits be issued for trophy hunting of grizzly bears, with hunting starting September 1. For those who do not live around grizzlies, and are upset by this news, I would like to shed some light on this seemingly “grizzly” topic.
I have lived in Wyoming all my life. As a child, and later when my children were small, the greatest adventure in the summer was to go camping in the mountains or take the loop through Yellowstone and Teton Parks. We took our tents, sleeping bags, and coolers of food, and prepared to get dirty, happy, and relaxed. It was a great time; there is nothing like getting back to nature deep in the wilds.
Today to go camping in the same mountains, a family needs a hard-top camper, cannot cook around the campfire, must keep food in either a lock box or hanging high in a tree 1000 feet away from where they sleep, and must carry a gun or bear spray when they go out hiking.
Where is the relaxation in that?
People that do go into Grizzly Country encounter bears more than we realize. In 2017 alone, there were 56 grizzly deaths; 40 were killed by people, half of them claiming self-defense.
It is a scary state of affairs when out enjoying the day and suddenly, you come upon an 700-pound, 8-foot-tall-standing-on-her-hind-legs mama bear and her cubs. You disturbed their quiet berry picking adventure, and mama is mad!!
The advice when encountering a bear is to drop to the ground and play dead, but I’ve never quite figured out how that is possible when an angry bear is nosing your ribs. “Mmm, nice lunch!” she says.
BEARLY ENOUGH ROOM TO ROAM
Grizzly bears are at the top of the food chain. Humans are the only species that can control the population of this animal.
Let us put some perspective on this real estate we call Grizzly Bear Country.
Let us put some perspective on this real estate we call Grizzly Bear Country.
The Yellowstone Ecosystem consists of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, and except for a small portion of Yellowstone extending into Idaho and Montana, both Parks lie in Wyoming.
Grizzly Country
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Yellowstone National Park*
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2.2 million acres
34,375 square miles
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Grand Teton National Park*
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310,000 acres
485 square miles
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Shoshone National Forest
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2.2 million acres
34,375 square miles
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Bridger/Teton National Forest
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3.4 million acres
53,125 square miles
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Wind River Indian Reservation**
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2.2 million acres
34,375 square miles
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Total Grizzly Bear Habitat
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10.4 million acres
156,735 square miles
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*No hunting in the Parks
**It is unclear if the Tribes will allow trophy hunting on their lands
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Grizzlies need a lot of territory. If people did not live in the area, and if grizzlies were naturally relegated and allowed to grow unchecked in these 10.4 million acres, there still would not be enough room for them all. They have exceeded the carrying capacity of their habitat.
Feeding and Roaming Range for Each Bear
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Females with cubs
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32,000 to 192,000 acres
50 to 300 square miles
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Males
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128,000 to 320,000 acres
200 to 500 square miles
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When put in this perspective, 10.4 million acres is not very large playground. In 1975, when bears were put on the endangered species list, there were 135 bears, today there are 700 to 1000 bears in the same area. 10.4 million acres/700 grizzlies equals about 225,000 acres per bear.
THE MEN IN THE RED SHIRTS
In his highly popular Joe Pickett series, C. J. Box depicts Joe as a man in the red shirt, better known as a Wyoming Game and Fish warden. The interesting crimes that happen in Joe’s district are fiction, but Box does a great job writing about the day-to-day life of a warden.
Thanks to the careful management of the Wyoming Game and Fish, Wyoming proudly holds claim to one of the last of the pristine wildernesses on earth. Elk, deer, wolves, grizzly bears, people - all exist in harmony, and enjoy an environment safe from invasion from the outside world.
“HUNTING IS PART OF THE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM”
Charles Price, former commissioner of the Wyoming Game and Fish
Indeed, hunting permits are all about management. Perhaps I can put this in perspective.
MANAGING WILDLIFE
Wyoming uses a random draw system that assigns tags to hunters. This system is used for hunters of elk, moose and black bear, and special areas for deer, and for fishermen, as well. There are limits of what you can catch or shoot, and there are grave penalties for stepping outside these boundaries.
This way the Game and Fish can keep track of who is shooting (or fishing) what. Hunting permits avoid the free-for-all with hunters crawling all over the mountains shooting at whatever they see (and each other!).
The odds of getting a grizzly permit are very slim. Applications are submitted and twenty-two permits are randomly drawn. The winners of the draw then pay for their permit; $600 for in-state, $6,000 for out-of-state.
The odds of shooting a bear are even slimmer. Ten hunters at a time are given permits for ten days. Once ten males or one female is shot, the season is over.
Twenty-two permits, ten bears. No one but the holder of the permit can shoot the animal, so if he is a bad shot and hurts the bear, he had better have a tree picked out he can climb up fast!
In the wilds, natural selection maintains a balance between plants and animals. For the same reasons, culling the flock or herd is practiced by farmers, ranchers, and wildlife managers. It is inhumane not to do so. Otherwise, the farm, ranch, or wilderness would be overrun with too many species of one kind, and not enough of another.
It sounds like a horrible thing for Wyoming to allow hunting of grizzlies, but the fact is, issuing licenses for twenty-two grizzly bears is not worth the uproar. With management of this growing population of grizzlies, ranchers won’t be shooting bears that have taken their livestock, and hikers will not be as apt to come across an angry mama.
So, please, do not despair about the grizzly bear. With continued responsible management of our wildlife, this vast wilderness will stay safe for anyone who wishes to enjoy it. Humans and bears alike.
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