Killing me softly

Feeding wildlife, from songbirds to carnivores, is coming under scrutiny all over the country, and the topic is particularly hot this fall in the Inland Northwest.

In October, after Idaho Fish and Game Department officers euthanized a Selkirk Mountains grizzly bear that had become hooked on human food sources, The Spokesman-Review posed this question to readers:

Should photographers and other people who feed wild animals be held responsible for animal deaths to the same standard as hunters?

Responses, primarily from women, poured in by e-mail. The office voice mailbox was filled to his limit.

The premise was simple. Black bear hunters face fines if they put out bait in the grizzly bear recovery area of the northern Panhandle (Unit 1), and even stiffer fines and possible jail time should they cause the death of a grizzly bear.

But baiting bears is legal in Idaho for the purpose of photography or wildlife viewing, even if the practice leads to the death of the animal. Careless handling of pet food and bird seed also is unrestricted in most areas.

The grizzly that had to be shot near Priest River on Oct. 4 after becoming a public threat had a clean record until it apparently became addicted to human-provided food put out by a Priest Lake area photographer and other residents who dispensed corn and sunflower seeds ostensibly to feed deer and birds.

Readers overwhelmingly favored holding wildlife feeders and accountable for impacts their actions have on critters. They also had some keen observations on the issue. For example:

“People should clean up their act in bear country, but so should Priest Lake State Park, which doesn’t even have bear-proof dumpsters, said Brenda Bumann.

“”A $10,000 reward is offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or person’s responsible for the illegal killing of any grizzly bears in the Swan Valley of Montana,” pointed out Sam Wallace of Bonners Ferry, asking why people are getting off free in the Priest Lake case? He likened careless wildlife feeding to being “an accessory to an illegal killing.”

“While some readers said they should be able to do anything they want on private property, other readers said that’s not necessarily true when their actions affect public safety and wildlife, which belong to the public.

“While reprehensible, a hunter who kills a bear deliberately or through negligence is at least not endangering anyone else,” wrote Rebecca Shearer, a reader from Bonners Ferry. “Those who regard wild animals as playthings to be used for entertainment and then disposed of when they become a nuisance should be charged. The routine warnings issued by Idaho Fish and Game don’t seem to make an impression; maybe some hefty fines would.”

Idaho’s lack of restrictions on practices that create nuisance wildlife leave state agencies with little muscle to tackle the issue.

For example, a resident in the Lightning Creek area near Sandpoint has been putting out doughnuts and other food to attract bears for years, said Wayne Wakkinen, Idaho Fish and Game Department bear specialist. A dozen or more black bears at a time have been spotted in the man’s yard this fall.

“There’s nothing we can do about it,” Wakkinen said. “We don’t have any options from an enforcement standpoint as far as dealing with people who are creating nuisance animals.”

Meanwhile, the agency’s conservation officer was “running ragged” this summer trying to respond to bear complaints from neighbors, Wakkinen said.

Montana at least has a few enforcement options for careless wildlife feeding.

A Lincoln, Mont., man has been fined a total of $6,580 for persistent violations of luring black bears onto his property with food since 2003. More charges are pending in subsequent cases. Meantime, state Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials have had to destroy 11 habituated bears and trap and relocate another five bears.

“He’s had a tremendous impact on bear populations for 30 to 40 square miles,” said Warden Capt. Mike Martin.

The man is facing more fines and jail time under a state law that prohibits “purposely or knowingly attracting bears with supplemental feed attractants.” The law also makes it illegal to improperly store supplemental feed that attracts bears.

Problems associated with increased human activity in bear country are not limited to North Idaho.

Idaho’s Island Park area near Yellowstone National Park had numerous problems this year with grizzlies and black bears becoming associated with garbage and other human food.

“Seems like a few people want to see a bear when they come to their vacation cabin on the weekend, so they leave out food,” said Chip Corsi, Idaho Fish and Game Department regional manager in Coeur d’Alene. “Unfortunately, that’s a death sentence for the bears, and they’re putting other people at risk.”

In California’s Sierra Nevada region, strict food storage laws have been enacted to counter black bears that have learned to pop out vehicle windshields and open car trunks to satisfy their addiction to food brought into the mountains by campers.

“Bears are a species we’d love to coexist with, and I think we can,” said Rob Soumas, Idaho Fish and Game conservation officer. “We’d like to get campers and residents to understand that you can’t leave out food and garbage and put bacon grease in fire pits in bear country or our bear problems could get way out of hand,”

Soumas knows first-hand, as human-caused bear issues have consumed much of his time during the past two summers. “I’d rather be doing the other work to support the hunters and fishermen who pay my salary,” he said.

But in one 28-hour period this fall, he said he fielded 14 calls with complaints about bears.

“It is past time that people are held responsible for the consequences of their actions,” said Jane Holzer. “We on the Hope Peninsula (a game preserve) have a similar problem, except with deer.

“Some residents feel it is their “right” to do as they please with the deer, for their own personal enjoyment. This includes feeding, hugging, rubbing, enticing and basically treating them as personal pets — until there is a problem. They are surprised when the deer become aggressive.”

At least the bear issues can be put to bed for a while. In the next few weeks, bears will be crawling into their dens for the winter. But next spring, the topic is issue is likely to return, as sure as the bears.