In the spring of 2009, two grizzly bears named Rainy and Scarhip were seen frolicking through fields and across highways. Soon thereafter, both bears were captured near Seeley Lake, Montana and fitted with tracking collars. To have any chance of survival, Rainy and Scarhip would have to avoid a variety of temptations, including garbage cans, birdfeeders, and chicken coops – all containing delicious snacks for a hungry bear.

A grizzly bear roams into an apple orchard.

Needless to say, the outlook was not good, and Scarhip was getting into people’s yards almost immediately. But food attractants aren’t the only threat to grizzly bears, and in October of 2009, Scarhip was mistakenly shot and killed by a black hear hunter. Meanwhile, Rainy stayed out of trouble all summer long before heading to her den north of Lake Alva. The following spring she emerged with two cubs and spent the next few months in the Placid Lake area. Then, suddenly, on July 14th, she was documented near Seeley Lake again, feeding on garbage, grain, bird seed and dog food. Females with cubs need as many calories as they can find, and Rainy had hit the jackpot.

That was the beginning of the end for Rainy. Before long, she and her cubs were climbing onto porches, damaging buildings and approaching people. Due to escalating concerns for human safety, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks decided to trap all three bears. But it was too late — one of Rainy’s cubs was hit by a car crossing Highway 83. A month later, FWP trapped Rainy and her remaining cub and sent them to a zoo in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Sadly, the cub died a year later from a rare fungal infection, while Rainy still remains at the zoo.

The saddest part of the story, however, is that the loss of these bears was almost entirely avoidable. Simple solutions like electric fencing are highly effective at securing attractants like bee yards, apple orchards, lambing pastures, chicken coops and compost piles. Other successful deterrents include bear-resistant garbage enclosures and using livestock guard dogs, range riders and alternative grazing methods.

Some of these tools can be expensive, but there are resources available to help residents protect their property and prevent conflict. For example, Defenders of Wildlife started a program in 2010 to help pay for smaller fencing projects. So far the program has secured 58 sites in Montana and helped save grizzly bears.

Electric fencing around bear attractants like chicken coops can make a big difference.

Take the Morris family, for instance. They’re a 4-H family from northwest Montana with pigs, goats, sheep and chickens. Last year, the Morrises routinely had grizzly bears on their property and had Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks on “speed dial.” They wanted to install a sturdy electric fence but didn’t think they could afford one. FWP directed the Morrises to our incentive program, which helped pay for installing the fence they wanted — a win-win solution for both bears and people. The Morrises finished their electric fence last October and are expecting local wildlife residents to be quite “shocked” when they come around this spring.

Since 1997, Defenders of Wildlife has also been compensating ranchers for livestock losses to grizzly bears. This year, Montana will take this program over through the state’s Livestock Loss Board. Though not a perfect solution, compensation programs help mitigate the financial impact on ranchers and their families. But compensation only addresses conflicts after the damage has already been done. It’s far better to find ways to prevent conflicts from occurring in the first place. And on the rare occasions when these tools aren’t enough, wildlife managers need the flexibility to relocate or remove grizzly bears that are deemed a serious threat to humans.

Aldo Leopold, the grandfather of wildlife conservation, once wrote, “Relegating grizzlies to Alaska is about like relegating happiness to heaven; one may never get there.”

By the late 1800s, this became a real fear. An estimated population of 50,000 grizzly bears plummeted to just a few hundred in less than one percent of their historic range. Fortunately, grizzly bears were protected under the Endangered Species Act in 1975 and have been making a strong comeback ever since. Today, there are approximately 1,700 grizzly bears in the lower 48. Most of us have welcomed these magnificent creatures back to our landscape. But it will take concerted efforts by all of us living in grizzly country to ensure continued recovery of the species. Ultimately, the fate of grizzly bears in Montana and across the West still rests in our hands.

I hope grizzlies are never relegated to Alaska nor happiness to heaven. And hopefully, by working together, we can ensure that our children and grandchildren can continue to find both right here in Montana.

To learn more about what you can do to coexist with grizzly bears, visit defenders.org/GotGrizzlies.

Originally published by Montana Public Radio

Wow – what an incredible couple of days! Last week over 30 Defenders’ citizen advocates flew to Washington, D.C. to ask Congress to speed the recovery of endangered wildlife, and to kick off our exciting new grassroots campaign “Conservation Crossroads: Extinction or Recovery?” And what a kick off it was!

Two supporters from Colorado arrive on Capital Hill.

Advocates from across the country, from California and Montana to Florida and New York, arrived at Defenders’ headquarters for a day of lobby training and a legislative briefing by our talented Government Relations team. The room was buzzing as folks swapped advice, shared information, and related to one another why they made the trip to D.C. It was clear that each participant had a unique background and story to tell their elected leaders about the importance of recovering endangered wildlife.

We had members of the military, including a retired Marine Corps Lt. General, a Marine veteran, and an active duty CA Air National Guardsman, who talked about protecting endangered species on military bases, emphasizing that defending our way of life includes wildlife. We had two priests from Arizona and New Mexico and a wildlife enthusiast who started an environmental lecture series in her church speak about the need to be good stewards of God’s planet. And we had educators, wildlife photographers, writers, and health care professionals – folks who could be our neighbors – speak about why protecting and recovering endangered wildlife is a value shared by all Americans, regardless of political party.

Equipped with printed materials and important conservation messages, we headed to Capitol Hill to ask our elected officials for two things: 1) to provide increased funding for key wildlife management agencies to accelerate the recovery of endangered species, and 2) to vote against any attempts to weaken the Endangered Species Act, a law that has seen a 99% success rate in preventing extinctions.

We met with legislators of both parties to educate and encourage them to support wildlife recovery, especially those freshmen who were just recently elected six months ago. While some of our meetings were to thank our greatest champions for wildlife recovery, such as Representative Mike Thompson (D-CA) and Representative Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA), we also met with legislators who do not always vote consistently on behalf of endangered wildlife. Those meetings are especially important, and having constituents speak directly to their members of Congress and key staff members makes a profound impact. Legislators take their direction on what issues to focus on and how to vote from constituent input – especially when the constituent has flown across the country for the meeting! And while face-to-face meetings are the most direct way to share the pulse of the district with members of Congress, there are many ways to let your voice be heard.

Ambassador wolf Atka was our guest of honor at the Hill reception.

Once our marathon day of 70+ meetings was over, our weary but empowered group of citizen advocates gathered with volunteers, congressional staff, and other guests to recap the day and celebrate 40 years of the Endangered Species Act. We were joined by some long-time friends of wildlife: Representatives Mike Thompson (D-CA), Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Jim Moran (D-VA), Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and one of the original authors of the Endangered Species Act and Dean of the U.S. House of Representatives Rep. John Dingell (D-MI). Each of them spoke to the crowd about the tremendous successes the Endangered Species Act has spurred, and the importance of protecting it against legislative attempts to undermine it. Hopefully the rest of Congress will heed their call!

After inspiring words from these notable legislators, the reception moved outside to greet our guest of honor: Atka, the ambassador Arctic wolf from the Wolf Conservation Center (WCC) in New York! Joined by Maggie Howell and Rebecca Bose of the WCC, we learned all about arctic wolves, how they survive in such harsh conditions, and why Atka was so excited to roll in perfume sprayed on the grass (so he can share the smell with his pack back home and cloak his scent from prey!). We tried our best to make Atka howl, but I think he was more interested in lounging in the sun. Many thanks to the men and women of the Capitol Police Department and Sergeant-at-Arms office for making Atka’s visit possible!

Although this Congressional lobby day is over, the campaign is just beginning. In the coming weeks and months, we will need as many concerned citizens as possible to help support the recovery of endangered species. If you’re interested in joining our stellar team of citizen advocates at home or during our next Capitol Hill grassroots lobby day take a minute to sign up and join our campaign today and become part of our growing team. There are many ways to get involved at home or in DC: letters to the editor, meetings with your elected leaders in your district, writing and calling Congress, and many more. I hope we’ll hear from you soon!

Lobby Training

Before we went to the Hill, our Government Relations team sat down with volunteers for a day of lobby training.

Lobby Training

Lobby Training

Two supporters from Colorado arrive on Capitol Hill.

Two supporters from Colorado arrive on Capitol Hill.

Our Delegation of Volunteers from California

Senator Bennet from Colorado Talks to our Volunteers on Capitol Hill

Brad Orsted meets with Senator Tester from Montana

The Florida Delegation

Brian Call, Paul Shannon and Tara Thornton meet with Rep. Ros-lehtinen from Florida

Getting Down to Business

Colorado volunteer Alicia Miers and Defenders' Outreach Representative Caitlin Balch-Burnett

Brian Call Meets With Rep. Radel from Florida

The Colorado Delegation

Kathie Broyles, Alicia Miers and Caitlin Balch-Burnett meet with Congressman Polis of Colorado

Volunteer Janet Hoben Meets With Rep. Adam Schiff from California

The Florida Delegation Meets With Rep. Radel

The Guest of Honor

Ambassador wolf Atka from the Wolf Conservation Center in New York

Atka meets Rep. Fitzpatrick from Pennsylvania

Atka meets Senator Stabenow from Michigan

How do we help advance solar and wind energy projects that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions while also protecting sensitive wildlife and their habitat?

As wind development grows in places like Oregon and Idaho, coordinated landscape-scale planning for both renewable energy and conservation can help us find the best places to build wind farms while protecting and improving habitat for pronghorn and other wildlife. (©Larry Andreasen)

We know that traditional energy sources like oil, gas and coal pose great risks to wildlife, be it from oil spills, habitat destruction or the release of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. But what about renewable energy, like solar and wind?

These are an essential part of reducing the pollution that comes from our energy use. But their size and how they function can have a huge impact on wildlife and their habitat. So, how can we develop these renewable energy resources without sacrificing wildlife?

The answer, as the saying goes, is “location, location, location.”

Traditionally, energy developers and land managers have picked project sites by focusing on the available energy resource; thinking about how those projects might affect natural resources and wildlife was an afterthought. But this way of doing business inevitably leads to delays, uncertainty, and conflict when developers discover after the fact that sensitive, threatened, or endangered wildlife may be on the site.

That’s where we come in.

Planning ahead for solar energy development in the desert Southwest can allow us to develop solar projects in the right places while protecting essential habitat for the Desert tortoise. (©Beth Jackson/FWS)

Defenders and our partners are working to change this paradigm in ways that reduce the potential for conflicts with wildlife while still permitting responsible renewable energy development to go ahead in the right places.

It starts with a landscape-scale analysis of energy potential and wildlife conservation priorities using many of the mapping tools and technologies currently available from state and federal wildlife agencies and non-profit conservation organizations. This allows energy developers to identify areas of potential energy-wildlife conflict and avoid them.

Next, developers can attempt to minimize wildlife impacts by adjusting the project’s scope or the way in which the project will be operated (e.g., installing radar to detect when birds are migrating through an area and shutting down wind turbines to reduce the likelihood of collisions).

Finally, when facing unavoidable impacts, developers can offset them by purchasing or restoring habitat or contributing funds to a “mitigation bank” from which proceeds can be used to protect other lands that will benefit the wildlife and habitats impacted by the project. The idea is to ensure that lands and habitat acquired or restored will make up for the lands lost or disturbed by the energy project.

Combined, these mechanisms for dealing with the potential risks posed by a project are referred to as the “mitigation framework.” And, they are the means by which we can produce renewable energy without sacrificing sensitive lands and wildlife in return.

Defenders is developing and promoting this approach on many fronts. Last June, Defenders and our partners hosted a workshop on mitigation policy in Washington, DC. Leaders from the conservation community, energy industries, and state and federal agencies gathered to discuss the latest techniques and tools in mitigation and how to continue to improve their use. We followed that up this spring with another workshop at the annual North American Wildlife and Natural Resources conference in Arlington, VA, where Defenders and others led a series of panels and presentations on landscape-level planning and mitigation.

Panoramic view of the Dry Lake Solar Energy Zone in southern Nevada’s Mojave Desert. (©BLM)

In between these two conferences, we have been working on using the mitigation framework to improve the planning and placement of individual solar and wind projects, and we participated in a series of groundbreaking workshops led by the Bureau of Land Management to define the first Region-wide Mitigation Plan for one of the solar energy zones identified by the Department of the Interior in their western solar plan. We helped Argonne National Laboratory develop a new data mapping tool for understanding and reducing wildlife conflict in transmission line planning, worked with the Arizona BLM on its first-of-a-kind Restoration Design Energy Program to identify and avoid places of high conflict across the landscape, and we continue to participate in the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan process in California.

As our country further embraces renewable energy, the question of how it affects wildlife and habitat will continue to be key, and Defenders is committed to promoting a landscape-scale approach to planning for energy and wildlife conservation in key areas. Remember: “location, location, location…” By using existing science and mapping technologies, we can work with the solar and wind energy industries to help them build better projects – better for wildlife and better for them because reducing conflicts with wildlife increases the likelihood that projects get built in less time and at lower cost. That, in turn, means that more clean energy is available to meet our nation’s energy needs and less dirty energy is needed. And that will benefit us all, particularly sensitive wildlife already threatened by a warming planet and increasing habitat loss.

My first bear encounter

In the late ‘90s, I was working in Yellowstone National Park as a waitress, a city girl inexperienced about wilderness. Wildlife, in my mind, consisted only of the opossums, deer, raccoons and squirrels that had frequented my neighborhood in Missouri. Little did I know, my summer job would forever change my conception of wildlife – and my entire life.

A family moment. (Photo Credit: Stephen Oachs)

One sunny day I set out on a hike with friends into Hayden Valley. The grass was as tall as me, gold and thick, and bison grazed in every direction. Suddenly, we noticed a grizzly bear off in the distance. My instinct was to run in the opposite direction, and I actually did briefly until a friend asked where I was going. Sheepishly, I stopped. We took out our binoculars and the grizzly stood up, her coat gleaming in the afternoon sun. Then, the small brown head of bear cub popped out of the grass. Finally, a third grizzly bear emerged, slightly larger than the little cub. Three grizzlies! At once, all three bears dropped into the tall grass and disappeared.

Media headlines were racing though my head: “Female grizzly attacks hikers to defend her cubs!” I was horrified and certain that she was going to pop up right in front of us—a mad, mama bear—but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Soon, she reappeared farther off, near a wet, muddy hole. She lay down on her back watching the other two roll in the mud.

In that exact moment I was forever changed. All the information I had received about bears through movies, TV and news articles was inaccurate and sensational. This was beyond a doubt, what we humans like to call a “family moment.” The cubs were playing while mom soaked up some sunshine. I knew I had to better educate myself about bears and that I needed to share what I learned.

Helping people and grizzlies coexist

This moment comes to mind every spring when bears emerge from hibernation and we start gearing up for our summer field season. For the past 10 years, I’ve been working to promote tolerance and find ways for humans and grizzlies to coexist. My job is to make sure that people are doing their part to secure attractants so that bears can keep themselves out of trouble and continue to thrive on the landscape.

Me and Russ doing grizzly bear outreach in Missoula, Mont.

My colleague Russ Talmo and I got started early this year by participating in several workshops and outreach events. This included talking about raising chickens in bear country at two Montana Pastured Poultry Workshops hosted by the National Center for Appropriate Technology in cooperation with Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks. We also set up remote cameras at a lambing pasture on the Rocky Mountain Front and, while we didn’t catch any bears, we do have footage of a coyote, a skunk, raccoons and lots of sheep.

Right now grizzlies are out of their dens looking for food such as glacier lilies, spring grasses  and deer and elk that have died over the winter. But anthropogenic attractants like garbage, birdfeeders, livestock, bees and chickens can quickly lure a winter-starved grizzly. To help keep bears away from these potential food sources, Defenders started an Electric Fencing Incentive program three years ago that reimburses residents 50% of the cost of an electric fence around a bear attractant. Between 2010 and 2012 we completed 58 fences. This year our goal is to complete another 50 fencing projects, and we are well on our way with over 25 people signed up already to participate.  Additionally, we are working with livestock producers on larger electric fence projects, range rider programs and helping to purchase livestock guard dogs.

I’ll keep you posted as our field season gets under way. We have lots of coexistence projects to complete and lots of great stories to share from our partners, so stay tuned!

According to the Idaho Mountain Express, ranch owner John Peavey has lost at least 31 sheep to wolves in the past week, offering a perfect example of what NOT to do in wolf country. Instead of providing extra protection for his ewes while they give birth to their lambs, he has sent them out on the range where they attract numerous wildlife species. Scavenging birds such as vultures and ravens pick over the afterbirth, and wolves, coyotes and other scavenging mammals follow soon thereafter. Once hungry predators are in the area, there’s nothing to stop them from going after defenseless lambs or their mothers. As our wolf expert Suzanne Stone says, it’s like setting the table and ringing the dinner bell for any carnivores in the area to enjoy the feast.

Defenders has repeatedly offered to help the Flat Top Ranch implement proactive strategies and nonlethal deterrents to prevent conflict, but each time our advice has been ignored. However, this does offer an important counterexample that proves the effectiveness of our work – none of our project partners have suffered similar losses. In fact, most ranchers we work with seldom lose sheep at all to wolves when properly guarded. In 2012, we protected 27,000 sheep and lost only four to wolves during the summer grazing season over a more than 1,000-square-mile project area. We stand ready and willing to help the Flat Top Ranch once they make the decision to stop range lambing methods that result in preventable losses of sheep, wolves and other native wildlife.

Atka goes to Washington.

A wolf in Washington? – That’s right. An arctic wolf was spotted in Washington, D.C. this week on Capitol Hill. Atka, an ambassador wolf from the Wolf Conservation Center in New York, was in town for a reception co-hosted by Defenders of Wildlife to celebrate the launch of our Conservation Crossroads campaign, as well as the 40^th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act. What’s more — today is not only Atka’s 11^th birthday, it’s also Endangered Species Day! So pop the champagne, we all have something to celebrate this week.

Washington wolves move west – Speaking of wolves in Washington… Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is working with ranchers outside Wenatchee to provide safe passage for wolves traveling west through the state. For example, rancher Doug Hurd is keeping his cattle on a pasture with an electrified fence a little longer instead of turning his cattle out onto open rangelands while wolves chase elk and deer herds through the area. The precautionary measure should help prevent wolves from preying on the cattle and keep the wolves focused on hunting wild prey. Ensuring these natural movements across the landscape is vital to further wolf recovery in the state, as wolves start returning to central Washington. See the full report from King5’s Gary Chittim:

Montana proposes wolf hunting expansions – The public can now weigh in on a proposal that would extend Montana’s hunting season another month through the end of March and allow hunters to kill up to 10 wolves each. The proposed revisions would also permit hunters to shoot wolves standing near baited traps (read the full story from Reuters). Though the state’s wolf population dropped seven percent this past year, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is still attempting to reduce wolf numbers even further. Please tell the state wildlife commissioners to reject the proposed changes and focus on promoting tolerance and coexistence instead of more wolf killing. Click here for details on how to submit public comments.

Yellowstone area rancher forfeits second kill permit – KPAX reports that a rancher embroiled in a controversy over the killing of a Yellowstone wolf has forfeited his shoot-on-sight permit to kill a second wolf. The man has apparently removed his cattle from the area to their summer pasture and has moved his remaining sheep as well. He had killed a female wolf (831F) from Yellowstone’s Canyon Pack while she was on his property, after allegedly losing 13 sheep to a pair of wolves in a prior incident. The wolf he shot was not the one responsible for attacking the sheep but was likely lured to the site by a sheep carcass that was left behind. Hopefully the rancher will take additional steps to protect his livestock in the future, avoiding the need to kill more wolves.

©USFWS

Chris Haney, Ph.D., Defenders of Wildlife Chief Scientist 

For such a relatively small bird, the robin-sized red knot (Calidris canutus) has an extraordinary migration journey. Each year it travels more than 9,000 miles from breeding grounds high in the Canadian Arctic down to remote Tierra del Fuego in South America, where it spends the winter. To survive the trip, these shorebirds must be strong, healthy and resilient.

Horseshoe crab (©Spakattacks/Flickr)

But the red knot is struggling to overcome catastrophic population loss. Over the past ten years, the North American Atlantic population of the red knot (Calidris canutus rufa) has plummeted by 80 percent. Numbers of red knots have crashed by as much as 54 percent on their wintering grounds in two years alone. In New Jersey, where red knots stop to rest and eat before continuing their north-bound journey, they have been declining at a rate of 17.9 percent annually. So what is responsible for the species’ alarming decline?

Commercial over-harvesting of the prehistoric horseshoe crab is a key culprit. Red knots must concentrate in huge numbers at traditional stop-over sites to refuel during their migration, because a single non-stop flight can cover as much as 5,000 miles. Delaware Bay is a key staging area during spring migration, where knots come to feed on eggs of the once-numerous spawning crabs. Some estimates place nearly 90 percent of the entire North American Atlantic population of the red knot on the bay during a single day in May.

When red knots descend on Delaware Bay this spring, famished from their marathon flight from South America, they might find slim pickings instead of their expected feast of eggs from horseshoe crabs. Superstorm Sandy last fall scoured away much of the sand that crabs need for spawning. Restoring beaches is a top priority for wildlife groups who wish to repair massive damage to the dunes, beaches and salt marshes along the Eastern Seaboard.

(©Jan van de Kam)

Aided by grants from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and others, two feet of new sand covers stretches of beach along swaths as much as 5,000 feet long and 10-15 feet wide. Arriving in 20-cubic-yard dump trucks, one load at a time, enough sand has been dumped to cover about 1,000 cubic yards a day. Sand was targeted for spreading on the most well-known and crucial spots for both the horseshoe crabs and red knot.

This beach replenishment is hoped to provide just enough space for throngs of horseshoe crabs as they crawl out of the bay. Each spawning female will lay up to 100,000 eggs.

Despite the restored habitat, problems for the red knot are not over. Beach restoration will complement other measures, namely a continued closure of the commercial fishery for horseshoe crabs. But with its conservation plight now so well-known and supported, perhaps tide and time are turning for this remarkable shorebird.