Bear Baiting Headed For More Debating

The November election is history, but the debate over Idaho bear hunting has not gone into hibernation.

The Idaho Fish and Game Commission is slated Thursday to revisit the issue which prompted an unsuccessful ballot initiative to ban bear baiting, hound hunting and the spring hunt.

“I’m going to tell them I represent a lot of people who feel that bear hunting needs to be changed in Idaho,” said Dave Richmond of Clayton, who gathered thousands of signatures to place the initiative on the ballot.

“We’re going to ask for change because we perceive what’s going on in Idaho to be an embarrassment to the state,” Richmond said Tuesday.

Idaho is the only state in the lower 48 to allow all three methods.

Don Clower, who led the drive to defeat Proposition 2, said he will urge the commissioners to stand firm because the initiative “was defeated and defeated quite soundly.”

“I’m going to thank them for their support, because they did support us,” Clower said. “I’m also going to tell them they cannot compromise with these people.”

One argument against the initiative was that trained Fish and Game biologists who monitor the harvest of bears every year had sided with the three methods.

Shortly after the election, newly appointed Commissioner Dr. Fred Wood of Burley requested further discussion of the issue at the December meeting.

“I think the commission needs to reevaluate these three techniques,” Wood said last month. “They’ll be back if we don’t do something.”

“There’s no way we can negotiate with people who don’t believe in killing bears,” Clower agreed.