Go, bears
It's been a roller coaster ride for bears this month, with polar bears losing a chance to have their ice cap homes protected from global warming by the Endangered Species Act, and the North Cascades grizzly gaining and then losing vital funding that would have finally pushed forward real recovery efforts. We humans aren't scoring big for bears this week, but maybe next week will help us make up for it.
Celebrate grizzly bear awareness week and speak up for the North Cascades grizzly. photo (in Alaska) by Chris Morgan of BEARTREK.org
Next week is National Bear Awareness Week, and around here that means warm fuzzy thoughts for the North Cascades grizzly bear. Awesome and elusive, fewer than 20 are thought to remain in the big wilds of Washington's North Cascades. Despite rarely seeing one, people love the bear, with nearly 80% of those polled supporting Cascades grizzly bears and their recovery.
North Cascades grizzly bears gained another measure of support this year when Rep. Rick Larsen recommended appropriations funding for a US Fish and Wildlife Service grizzly bear recovery plan. The plan's been in place for years, but on paper only, and the money, a modest sum, would have helped jumpstart recovery at long last.
Unfortunately, what could have been a big step forward just halted mid-stride. Congressman Norm Dicks, who has final say on these things, has yet to include an appropriation for a grizzly bear recovery EIS on his priority list in this year's budget , putting North Cascades grizzly bears back on the wait list, yet again. That could change over the next few months, especially if he hears from people who care about the bear.
In other sad news for bears this week, Obama's Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar has decided to let stand a Bush-era ruling forbidding activities causing global warming from being considered violations of the Endangered Species Act. Climate change is melting Arctic ice, the polar bear's hunting and denning habitat. Without it they cannot live. The ruling has connotations for other endangered animals co-evolved with snow and ice, from the little mountain pika to the stately mountain caribou.
Still, despite humans' failure to commit our best efforts for bears, grizzly bears and polar bears will soldier on, for a time. So you do, too: celebrate bears next week! May 15 is Endangered Species Day, take a minute that day to sign a petition to recover North Cascades bears. If you live in Rep. Norm Dicks' district, send a letter asking him to support grizzly bear recovery. If you live elsewhere please write our Senators. If you're in Bellingham, you're in luck: munch on a Grizzly Grinder, the best sandwich around from Seven Loaves Pizza. Folks near Etonville can have bear fun at Northwest Trek. Ride a bike, walk to work, do what you can to lessen your carbon footprint to have a positive impact on the ice cap polar bears call home.
The bears aren’t giving up. You shouldn't either.
