Update 11/23/11 - Shortly after I posted this, Rocky Barker of the Idaho Statesman added this insight:
Federal and Idaho biologists say a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision on grizzly bears Tuesday offers them a clear path back to delisting the West’s biggest predator in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem.
The three-judge panel upheld U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy’s 2010 order to return grizzlies to the threatened species list. But it also overturned his ruling that the government’s conservation strategy was not adequate to protect the bears after delisting.
You can read his fine reporting on the subject here.
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Whenever I hunt in Eastern Idaho, I always get a tinge of nervousness when I step down on some crunchy white pine nuts. I do a double take, a look up and around. I know pine nuts are a grizzly's favorite meal, and I don't want to be dessert. But there I am, standing like a cherry on top of a white pine nut sunday, and I keep a finger ready on the bear spray trigger.
Okay, maybe I'm not that paranoid. Here's the news -
The white pine nuts are a favorite food source for the humpbacked bears, but the trees have been the favorite food source of a certain beetle. So the grizzlies are not living as high on the hog as they used to. Seems like they're doing just fine. Numbers are up. Attacks on humans are up. What more could a left-wing environmentalist want?
Well, the ones on the 9th Circus Court of Appeals want more. And the white pine nut shortage is the convenient excuse. Federal wildlife agencies were about to lift protection on the grizzlies in the Greater Yellowstone area, but then the Court in San Fransisco knew better.
The sooner the states can have jurisdiction and management over their own animals, the better. IF&G's stance, both on bear and wolf issues, is let us manage ourselves. And not, as Merle Haggard put it, like the hippis out in San Fransisco do.
