Barely There
This past weekend while my better half was chasing elusive steelhead I was meandering along the Methow River under aspens that had yet to turn with my BCB. for those of younot in the know, border collie buddy, and reflecting about, grizzly bears. I’m Susan Allen and I’ll tell you why when Open Range returns. The peaks I could see beyond the Methow Valley seem almost mystical as they serve as gateways into a remote wonderful wilderness called the Pasayten, filled with exotic wildflowers and creatures rarely seen; wolves, wolverines and maybe, just maybe... the grizzly. Some locals have reported grizzly sign but ranchers I know who run cattle in that high country say grizzlies have been gone for decades. This summer, biologists for the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest are bear hunting. That is they are setting non-lethal traps deep deep in high country bated with bear delicacies like fish guts. If they can prove there is even a teany tiny bear population they’ll face less opposition to bear recovery than if they were to reintroduce the predator. The hair samples they’ve recovered are being tested for DNA because they are so simular to brown bear and infared cameras are attempting to shoot the real deal. The North Cascades has been part of an ongoing federal effort to restore the grizzly bear in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Washington. The bear have made a great comeback in the Rockies, enough so that they were removed from the protected species status until last fall when a federal judge ordered them back on stating their habitat is threatened by climate change. Hum, I thought gobal warming disappeared into the ozone layer. I’m Susan Allen
