LETTERS

Protein insufficiency and predatory bear attacks I read with great interest the article “Terror at Soda Butte” in your September-October issue. I was surprised FWP bear management specialist Kevin Frey made no mention of the reintroduction of wolves, which compete with bears for prey, or the lack of whitebark pine nuts as potential contributing factors to the Soda Butte grizzly’s need for a new source of protein. I’d be very interested to learn his thoughts on how these factors might affect grizzly bear behavior.

Will Osborne Bozeman

KEVIN FREY RESPONDS: The wolf re in troduction has definitely reduced and changed the distribution of elk on the northern range of Yellowstone National Park (YNP), which I believe Mr. Osborne is referring to. However, the far northeastern corner of the park, including the Cooke City area, never has had abundant elk or elk winter range. Wolves haven’t changed that there.

It’s true that whitebark pines have been hit hard by blister rust disease and pine beetle infestations. Even so, there are still literally millions of whitebark trees in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Additionally, the whitebark pine stands near Cooke City remain fairly intact. Historically, whitebark pines produce a cone crop on average every other year. Bears have evolved to adjust to this periodic loss of high-caloric nuts and utilize other food sources. As for 2010, late July was too early in the year for cone seed availability to have been a factor in this incident. The seeds are not generally available to bears until late August.

Also, 2009 was a good year for whitebark pine in the Cook City area, and this bear did not utilize that food source that year. I don’t believe this bear’s behavior was “altered.” What it did was highly unusual but not beyond what grizzlies and other large carnivores occasionally do naturally. Throughout history and the world, bears, wolves, lions, and other large predators sometimes kill and consume humans. With the increase in grizzly bear numbers and distribution around YNP, it’s likely there will be more potentially dangerous close encounters between bears and humans. But it’s also likely that most of those encounters will come from bears being surprised or feeling threatened, not viewing humans as food. The incident at Soda Butte was a tragedy; it was also an anomaly. Throughout the grizzly’s range in North America, there are thousands of situations each year where a bear could attack and kill a camper, hiker, hunter, or other person. But the animals almost never do. The fact that predatory attacks from large carnivores are rare give all of us some level of comfort and allow us to venture into the wild. But we must never forget that if we want to have places that are truly wild, then humans won’t always be the dominant species and the potential for attack, however slim, will remain.

No need for alarm Your July-August issue of Montana Outdoors contained a very thorough article on Cherry Creek. It appears that you are trying to “improve” the stream by poisoning brook, rainbow, and Yellowstone cutthroat trout to establish a native cutthroat trout species that was present 200 years ago. There must be other waters in Montana that are more critical habitats in need of improvement, especially considering that you probably spent $1 million on Cherry Creek. I was quite alarmed reading this article.

Dennis Hanson Merrifield, MN Michael H. Koeppen Florence

War-time reading

Restoring westslope cutthroat trout, Montana’s state fish and a species that has been targeted for possible listing under the Endangered Species Act, is one of FWP’s top fisheries management priorities in western Montana. Almost all of the project’s costs were paid by the private landowner and the U.S. Forest Service. I am a lifetime Montanan who is currently deployed in Afghan istan. My friends and family back home have sent me several issues of Montana Outdoors, and the magazine has been a great reminder of home. I have some issues posted around our “office.” I thought you would enjoy this photo. I’m standing here in front of an MATV (mineresistant all-terrain vehicle) in eastern Afghanistan.

Watch FWP closely I was disappointed to read FWP director Joe Maurier’s comments on wolf management (“Our Point of View,” September-October). Because hunting was never given a serious effort to reduce wolf numbers, the department now plans to vastly increase the wolf kill through trapping, giving in to a small but very vocal group of hunters and livestock producers. This in spite of the fact that wolf predation is but a tiny percent of overall livestock losses, and, except in a few local areas, of elk mortality.

The director then assures readers that the department has “safeguards” in place to protect the wolf population. But he never mentions what those safeguards are, nor how many wolves the department will allow to be killed this season. Further, he shows little concern about subjecting these highly intelligent animals to the cruelty of the leghold trap, instead referring to trapping as a “management tool.” Unfortunately, FWP appears to be in bed with anti-wolf groups, which advocate eliminating all wolves from the landscape. The department’s actions are suspect and must be watched closely.

Second Lieutenant Aaron Greer Kalispell

Correction Several readers wrote or called asking about the chokecherry jelly recipe in the September-October issue (“Eating the Outdoors”). An editing error resulted in the recipe calling for “¾ c. juice.” The actual recipe listed by the Montana State University Extension Office and submitted by the author calls for “3 ½ c. juice.”