by Maximillian Werner Despite Wyoming Game and Fish’s official conclusion to the investigation into Mark Uptain’s death, the only takeaway from which is that they killed the “right” bears, I still find myself troubled by reporter Mike Koshmrl’s account of the incident. Between his innuendo and comments made by Wyoming Game and Fish’s large carnivore chief, Dan Thompson, together with Jackson regional wildlife supervisor Brad Hovinga’s puzzling and often contradictory statements, “conclusion” is not the word that comes to mind as I try to understand why this event occurred and, more importantly, how to prevent it from happening again. Hovinga has a tough job. For starters, he’s a first resp
by David Mattson Terry Anderson wrote a recent opinion piece for the Washington D.C.-focused publication “The Hill” in which he made a number of unsubstantiated, even bizarre, claims about the past, present, and future of grizzly bears in the West. His assertions captured what seems to be an emerging narrative among those promoting removal of Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections for northern Rocky Mountain grizzly bears and the initiation of trophy hunting after a 25-40 year hiatus—a narrative being actively promulgated by a number of people in the Yellowstone region. Notably, Terry is a political economist who was founder and president of the right-wing think-tank Property and Environme
by David Mattson Recent statements by politicians as well as grizzly managers and researchers in the Yellowstone ecosystem have revealed much about not only their motivations, but also the masters they serve. Official communications have been resoundingly and selectively silent about certain critical issues. At the same time, and more alarming yet, some managers and politicians have gone out of their way to tacitly incite violence and even criminality. But then, such behaviors are not new, especially on the part of Wyoming officials who routinely exploit controversies surrounding grizzly bear management to advance the interests of a regressive constituency. A Judge Rules Much of the posturi
by Louisa Willcox Late afternoon of September 24, Federal Judge Dana Christensen restored endangered species protections for Yellowstone grizzly bears, putting to rest for now the threat of a grizzly bear trophy hunt. With a sigh of relief, I noticed the pungent smell of cottonwoods by the creek where we live and watched a few gold leaves flutter to the earth. I was not sure when I had last taken note of smell or color, as if the months-long fight over grizzly bear delisting had stolen my senses. But before I had finished reading the Judge’s 48-page ruling, a reporter called for my response. He asked how this moment feels compared to 2009 when a different judge reinstated Endangered Species
