Guide to Yellowstone and Grand Teton

Nothing causes quite the same size traffic jam in Yellowstone as a grizzly bear. Last summer, I was driving near Fishing Bridge when I approached a traffic jam so large I knew a bear was nearby. There was indeed, and the golden  grizzly pictured above ignored the crowd as she crisscrossed the road in search of snacks, seemingly oblivious to the dozens of bystanders snapping away.

Rangers soon after told me that this same bear had been making all too frequent appearances in the Lake Village area. Nicknamed Blondie, the distinctly colored grizzly continued popping up in public places, even as officials repeatedly tried scaring her away, going as far as relocating her by boat to the opposite side of Yellowstone Lake. Regrettably, she made her way back and continued to show up in populated areas. Her apparent comfort around humans became too great for park officials, rightfully nervous about a possible accident or attack, and Blondie was just captured and shipped by pick-up to Washington State University, where she will join other problem bears at a research facility.

The park’s own release best sums up Blondie’s story and all the many steps taken by the park took before having to resort to the permanent vacation.

“A three-year-old female grizzly bear weighing approximately 140 pounds has been captured after frequenting two developed areas near Yellowstone Lake for the last two years.

Grizzly number 539 had entered the Lake Village and Fishing Bridge developments numerous times. She had been hazed away from those areas using beanbag rounds, cracker shells and other techniques, on over 40 occasions. This bear had previously been relocated by boat to the opposite side of Yellowstone Lake and by helicopter to the Gallatin Mountains in Yellowstone National Park. She returned to the Lake Village and Fishing Bridge developed areas after both relocations. She has been responsible for at least eight instances of property damage, mostly by chewing hoses used for sewage hookups on employee trailer houses.

Because multiple hazing and relocation efforts were not effective, the decision was made to remove the bear. She was captured on August 19, and transported by truck to the Washington State University Bear Research, Education, and Conservation Program. For more than 20 years, the bear management program in Yellowstone has assisted with and benefited from the non-invasive, ecology, nutrition, and physiology studies on bears performed at Washington State University.”

More information on the program is available here.

Cutthroat politics in Yellowstone

The Billings Gazette has just run an eye-opening story on the recent decline of both osprey and trumpeter swans in Yellowstone:

“Fish-eating ospreys are becoming rarer on Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone National Park, mostly because of a drastic decline in native cutthroat trout.

Terry McEneaney, Yellowstone’s ornithologist, said only nine nesting pairs of ospreys were observed on the lake last year and that the population in that area appears to be declining “at a staggering rate.”

“I go out there and I see very few osprey anymore,” McEneaney said. “I used to see 20 or 30 in a day, and now I’m lucky to see a couple.”

Fire, particularly the blaze that wiped out most of the cover on Frank Island in the middle of Yellowstone Lake, has likely played a role. Still it’s the link to native cutthroat trout that raises the biggest concern, as osprey are far from the only species dependent on the native fish. Over 40 different mammals and birds, including bears, rely on the cutthroat as an important food source within Yellowstone. Unlike illegally introduced lake trout – a mortal danger to cutthroat in Yellowstone Lake — cutthroat spawn in the shallow waters of the Yellowstone River, where they can be readily hunted.

The decline in osprey could be a statistical blip, or could be a sign -– a larger canary in the coal mine, if you will – of things to come. And along with lake trout, another even less palatable villain has played a role in this impending disaster – none other than our vice president, Dick Cheney. If the above story is eye-opening, than the Washington Post’s recent series on Cheney can best be described as stomach churning.

In case after case, the veep has used his position to bully government officials – even going so far as to leave a message on voice mail of the 19th-ranking Interior Department official – into stalling legislation and to flippantly ignore the inconvenient principles of law and science to win a few votes:

“…Cheney made his environmental views clear in public. But with some notable exceptions, he generally has preferred to operate with stealth, aided by loyalists who owe him for their careers.

When the vice president got wind of a petition to list the cutthroat trout in Yellowstone National Park as a protected species, his office turned to one of his former congressional aides.

The aide, Paul Hoffman, landed his job as deputy assistant interior secretary for fish and wildlife after Cheney recommended him. In an interview, Hoffman said the vice president knew that listing the cutthroat trout would harm the recreational fishing industry in his home state of Wyoming and that he “followed the issue closely.” In 2001 and again in 2006, Hoffman’s agency declined to list the trout as threatened.”

The fight to protect cutthroat is certainly far from over, and with the current administrations time running out, perhaps better days are to come. To get involved, head to greateryellowstone.org – just one of several organizations trying to make a difference.

A man jogging in Grand Teton was attacked by a grizzly yesterday, making this the second bear attack in the region this year. According to the Jackson Hole Daily , Dennis VanDenbos took a break from jogging on Wagon Road by Jackson Lake Lodge at 6am to watch an elk when a sow grizzly with three cubs, who were feeding on an elk carcass in the area, approached:

“Park officials said VanDenbos tried yelling to frighten the bears away, then lay down on his stomach in a submissive posture. One of the bears then attacked, inflicting lacerations and puncture wounds. Park officials aren’t sure if the bear that attacked was 399 or one of the cubs. A nearby Grand Teton Lodge Co. employee frightened the bear away.”

Thanks to his proper response – instead of trying to fight the 350-pound bear, he assumed a submissive position after his yelling didn’t scare the bear away – VanDenbos is in stable condition. However, he was warned of bear activity in the area, and – in my opinion– should have been carrying bear spray while jogging, especially alone. In any case, park officials are currently stating the bear will not be put down as it was only displaying “normal behavior” for a feeding bear. Lets hope this lucidity continues as the story gains more notice.

Regarding the first attack in the region this year… well, check here for an update. Photographer Jim Cole was mauled by a grizzly back on May 23rd while taking photos in Yellowstone’s Hayden Valley. Unlike the incident in Grand Teton, Cole was in the backcountry and actively searching for bears – he has published several books on grizzlies. Plus, this wasn’t the first time he’d been attacked. Cole was also mauled in 1993 by a grizzly bear in Glacier National Park. Once bitten, twice shy? Apparently not, and Cole has been taking perhaps deserved heat from various commentators such as this – though I’m holding back on judgment until hearing from Cole himself, whom I’d have to guess holds no ill-will towards the bears, nor would absolve himself from blame.

To update the recent history of attacks, according to the park service there have been eight minor bear-caused human injuries in Yellowstone since 2000.  The last bear-caused human fatality in Yellowstone occurred in 1986.

A lawsuit to halt the de-listing of Yellowstone grizzlies has just been filed.

No one can argue that the primary goal for flora and fauna placed on the roster of endangered or threatened species is de-listing. Such an event – like the successful recovery of the peregrine falcon – should be a time of celebration, proof positive that an animal once on the brink of extinction has made a rousing comeback. However, when after years of pushing the Bush Administration removed the “threatened” status of Yellowstone area grizzly bears this March, many biologists and conservation groups were left in a far from celebratory mood. While the population of grizzlies has rebounded from a low of around 200 in the early 1970s to an estimated 500–600 today, it’s argued that the long list of dangers faced by grizzlies – from the loss of habitat due to the boom in mega vacation “cottages” to the decimation of whitebark pines, a key source of fall protein for grizzlies – has kept the bears in a perilous situation. The administration’s cozy relationship with mining and logging groups, not to mentioning hunting organizations (if de-listed, local states will be able to hold grizzly hunts), hardly helps clear things up.

On June 4, a team of environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, filed a lawsuit against the US Fish and Wildlife Service to halt the de-listing. We’ll be keeping tabs on the progress of the case here; should you want to get involved, both organizations could certainly use the support; check their websites for more information.

Local creatures still listed as threatened or endangered in the region include the Bald Eagle, Gray Wolf, and Whooping Crane.