Teen Pleads Guilty In Grizzly Shooting

A Colville man pleaded guilty Wednesday to killing a grizzly bear about a dozen miles northeast of Colville, in an area where grizzly sightings are rare.

Ed Smith Jr., 18, was sentenced to two days in jail and ordered to pay $2,500 in fines and civil penalties. Stevens County District Court Commissioner Andy Braff also banned Smith from hunting for a year.

Smith was charged with killing protected wildlife after he shot the grizzly last September, while he was still a juvenile. He said he didn’t know the bear was a grizzly.

It is illegal to hunt grizzlies, which are designated a “threatened” species in Washington under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Although it was hunting season for black bears and Smith had a license, he had no bear tag. Defense attorney Bevan Maxey of Spokane said Smith was helping a friend who had a tag.

“He was with a friend who had a broken foot and was hunting the game for food,” Maxey said. “The bear was running through a clearcut, and Mr. Smith took the rifle from the friend and fired for him in order to put some food on his table.”

Despite a sighting last month in Spokane County, grizzlies are seldom seen in northeast Washington outside the Selkirk Recovery Zone in northern Pend Oreille County, where they have special protection. The bear Smith killed was one of only two confirmed sightings in Stevens County in the past year.

Madonna Luers, state Wildlife Department spokeswoman, said the shooting helped convince state officials to tighten regulations for blackbear hunting. Hunters must now have a special certification to lure black bears with bait north of state Highway 20.

To be certified, hunters must attend a class that teaches grizzly identification as well as baiting regulations. Even certified hunters are prohibited from using bait in the Selkirk Recovery Zone.

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