Judge to decide whether grizzly bear hunts resume in Rockies

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press


Matt Volz, Associated Press
Updated 2:18 pm CDT, Wednesday, August 29, 2018



FILE - In this Sept. 25, 2013, file photo, a grizzly bear cub searches for fallen fruit beneath an apple tree a few miles from the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park in Gardiner, Mont. A judge will decide whether the Lower 48 states' first grizzly bear hunting season in more than four decades will open as scheduled the weekend of Aug. 31, 2018. (Alan Rogers/The Casper Star-Tribune via AP, file)


HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A judge is expected to make a ruling this week on whether the first grizzly bear hunting season to be held in the Lower 48 states in more than four decades will open as scheduled on Saturday outside Yellowstone National Park.

Wildlife advocates and Native American tribes will appear in court Thursday to urge U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen to reinstate federal protections that were lifted last year for approximately 700 grizzlies living in and around Yellowstone. They are asking him to do so before the hunts begin this weekend in Wyoming and Idaho.

"This is a high-stakes deadline," said Tim Preso, an attorney for Earthjustice representing several advocacy groups and the Northern Cheyenne tribe. "We're down to the wire."

Wildlife officials in Wyoming and Idaho say they're ready for opening day. Twelve hunters in Wyoming and one in Idaho have been issued licenses for Saturday's opening out of the thousands who applied. It would be Wyoming's first hunt since 1974 and Idaho's first since 1946.

Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Judge-s-ruling-to-decide-whether-grizzly-bear-13190969.php

[Submariner]

1. If this bear murderthon can't be stopped

It would be a shame if the so-called hunt resulted in numerous misfiring rifles followed by deadly maulings.

Go bears.

[LakeSuperiorView]

4. I wish the bears more success than their football namesakes have had of late.

[Sedona]

2. Fortunately for the bears

U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen was appointed by Obama.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dana_L._Christensen

[Judi Lynn]

9. Thank you, didn't know. You've kept the door to hope open, for now.

There has NEVER been an excuse for simply killing animals for the hell of it. There is no moral defense.

So much could be done during a lifetime instead of stealing lives from other living creatures after terrorizing them first.

[htuttle]

3. I support the Right to Arm Bears

[pazzyanne]

5. So do I!!!

[sandensea]

7. They need it more than our radicalized Trumpkins, that's for sure.

[sandensea]

6. Here's an idea:

Put Sarah Palin in a bear costume, and let the games begin.

[Judi Lynn]

10. It's heavenly to consider! Run, Sarah, run. n/t

[Coventina]

8. Trophy hunters are scum.

Scum.

Go bears!!

[NickB79]

11. What's really needed is more habitat for the bears

Hunting is a short-term fix for a larger problem. The Yellowstone population right now is being boxed in, making it difficult for bears to roam like they need to to maintain genetic diversity.

Either wildlife corridors need to be established using land purchases, or animals need to be captured and transported to new locations on a regular basis.

Perhaps, decades from now, a widespread grizzly population could support hunting pressure, but only when reintroduced to more of their former range.