Latest news with #WildlifeandParks
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
How fast is a grizzly bear? Video from Montana shows one at full speed
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks on Wednesday shared footage that showcases the grizzly bear's "strength, agility, and speed [as] an efficient traveler and predator.' (See video below.) The footage was captured during a survey of collared bears and 'illustrates why you should never try to outrun a grizzly or black bear.' Bears can attain speeds of up to 35 mph. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks to followers: 'You? Not even downhill.' RELATED: Can you spot the Yellowstone grizzly bear and cubs? To be sure, it's best to remain calm, stand your ground, and have bear spray ready if you encounter bear at close range. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (@montanafwp) The footage caught my attention because I recently experienced a close encounter with a grizzly bear in Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park. I can attest that bears are astonishingly fast even while walking if they have a purpose in mind. The bear that approached me had to cross a pond so, while slowly veering from its path, I captured cellphone footage of its crossing, and part of its subsequent crossing of the Snake River. Click here to view the footage and read about my recollection of the May 21 encounter. Thankfully, I did not need to use my bear spray. This article originally appeared on For The Win: How fast is a grizzly bear? Video from Montana shows one at top speed
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Governor vetoes ‘river census' bill, sponsor pushes for override
A Montanan cools off in a shallow stretch of the Clearwater River. (Keila Szpaller/The Daily Montanan) Gov. Greg Gianforte vetoed a 'river census' bill, arguing the work to collect data can be done in a 'more cost effective manner,' but the sponsor said a special revenue account has the money, and Montana needs clarity about river use. House Bill 762 would require Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks to produce a report of all watercraft, from rafts to inflatable flamingoes, along 966 miles of 16 rivers in the state. Rep. Joshua Seckinger, a river guide, said the legislation is necessary because rivers are busy, and attempts have been made to regulate them, but with only anecdotal evidence, not hard data. In his veto letter, however, Gianforte argued the cost of the river census was much too high, and the project too large, although he said the bill is 'well intended.' 'House Bill 762 drains $2.6 million from the state parks account, which would otherwise be used to address important infrastructure projects at our state parks, including maintenance backlogs,' Gianforte said in his veto letter. The bill had bipartisan sponsorship. It earned 102 approvals altogether in its final votes in both chambers — 29 in the Senate and 73 in the House. Support from two thirds of the Montana Legislature triggers an automatic veto override poll from the Secretary of State. Friday, a spokesperson for the Secretary of State's office could not be reached via email about the status of polling. Friday, the bill wasn't among the list of those currently being polled. However, in a letter to his colleagues, Seckinger, D-Bozeman, said he hopes they consider overriding the veto. He said he respectfully disagrees with the governor's assessment the bill 'took too big a bite at the apple.' 'First, there is no additional cost to taxpayers,' Seckinger wrote. 'The bill would have been funded entirely from a special revenue account within FWP, which is supported by vehicle registration fees, the cannabis excise tax, and state park registrations. 'Even with HB 762, this fund would have had a $6 million ending balance. Without the bill, the fund's balance will now grow to $8.6 million — unused, and continuing to expand.' In a phone call with the Daily Montanan, Seckinger said he agreed the cost 'was not insignificant.' But if fiscal conservatism is the goal, he said, he would advocate for lowering license plate fees, cannabis taxes, and the other sources of funds for the account. In his letter, Seckinger also said the bill would have provided a 'comprehensive understanding of river use,' and objective, baseline data is needed — 'and we need it soon.' (A separate study out of Montana State University will review popular river stretches not included in the bill.) In his veto letter, Gianforte, a Republican, agreed that river usage 'has increased dramatically in recent years.' However, he said he believes the state can achieve the same goal over a longer period, potentially using a pilot program to study a portion of the river stretches in the bill. 'The idea of a pilot program is just an example, and over the course of the interim, I look forward to working with the bill sponsor, members of the Legislature, and FWP officials to find a more cost effective way of addressing this important need,' Gianforte said in the letter.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Yahoo
Grizzly killed in Yellowstone after seeking food, flipping dumpsters
A 400-pound grizzly bear was trapped and killed by park staff in Yellowstone last week because it posed a risk to public safety in one of the Wyoming park's busiest areas, according to the National Park Service. The bear, an 11-year-old male grizzly, overturned bear-resistant dumpsters — some weighing 800 pounds — and pulled trash cans from their concrete bases in search of human garbage. It was able to access food and trash near Old Faithful, as well as near the Nez Perce Picnic Area and the Midway Geyser Basin parking lot, park officials said. "It's unfortunate that this bear began regularly seeking out garbage and was able to defeat the park's bear-resistant infrastructure," Kerry Gunther, Yellowstone bear management biologist, said. "We go to great lengths to protect bears and prevent them from becoming conditioned to human food. But occasionally, a bear outsmarts us or overcomes our defenses. When that happens, we sometimes have to remove the bear from the population to protect visitors and property." The park noted that Yellowstone provides "bear-resistant" food storage lockers at all campgrounds, as well as food storage devices at backcountry campsites, and "bear-resistant dumpsters and garbage cans." Officials also said the last time a bear was killed by park staff in "a management action" was in 2017, when it "removed" a grizzly bear after it damaged tents and got access to food at Heart Lake campsites. In 2023, another grizzly in the region was killed, after fatally mauling a woman on a forest trail west of Yellowstone and attacking a person in Idaho three years before that. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks shot that bear, a 10-year-old female grizzly, with approval from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Grizzly bears are protected in the U.S. as a threatened species and it is illegal to harm or kill them except in cases of self-defense or the defense of others, according to the fish and wildlife service. The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, with Yellowstone National Park at its core, has been identified by the government agency as a "recovery zone" for grizzly populations. Raw Video: Mexican navy training ship hits Brooklyn Bridge Italy's Trulli: From Past to Present Car bomb outside Palm Springs fertility clinic was act of terrorism, officials say
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
What It's Really Like to Face Off with a Grizzly — and Live to Tell the Tale
The grizzly swung with its massive right paw. In a desperate attempt to protect his head, Jon Bentzel raised his left arm above him like a karate block and ducked, bracing for the impact of the enormous, fur-lined paw. The bear clubbed him, rattled his dome, hit his wristwatch, and then straddled him. Bentzel thought he was going to die and hoped it would be quick. The force shook him to his core. Bentzel had on his backpack and was lying in the fetal position, screaming bloody murder at the top of his lungs — petrified, hoping to scare it away. 'The bear's claws were as long as my fingers, like looking at a catcher's mitt with claws,' Bentzel recalls. 'Just this big meat hook.' More from Rolling Stone Naomi Klein: 'What They Want Is Absolutely Everything' Travel to Concerts Has a Massive Carbon Footprint, But It Doesn't Have To Inside the Small Agency With a Grand Plan for Trump's Global Energy Dominance Micah Nelson thought his friend was dying. 'I'd never heard a person scream in terror like that,' he says. 'I thought that was what your last scream sounded like.' Grizzly bears have recently been in the news as the Trump administration takes steps to dismantle the Endangered Species Act and remove the bears' habitat protections. Some politicians argue that the bear populations have recovered significantly over the past 50 years in Republican-led states like Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, where grizzlies live. Bears numbers have risen in the last 50 years from 800 to more than 2,000 but haven't recovered to historical numbers of 50,000. As more and more people move West, more bear habitat is fragmented and lost due to humans developing on wildlands, especially outside of Glacier National Park. The Flathead County, where much of Glacier National Park is located, was one of the fastest growing counties in Montana with around 11,000 people moving here between 2020 and 2023. Tim Manley, former grizzly bear management specialist for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, says human-bear encounters have also increased as populations expand and move closer to human settlements. Bears often search for sustenance in people's yards in early spring and late fall by rummaging through garbage, chicken coops, and bird is happening more as new residents leave out attractants because they haven't received proper education about living near bears. The expansion of human populations into the wildland-urban interface further fragments bear habitats, displacing the animals and forcing them into closer contact with humans. Manley goes on to say that all of this has led to a concerning increase in close encounters with grizzly bears, leading to increased bear deaths due to human actions. Hunters and anglers are increasingly opting to carry sidearms instead of bear spray, which has resulted in some bears being mistakenly shot, either because they were thought to be black bears or due to perceived threats during charging incidents. Manley thinks this is due to tradition and people trusting their guns over bear mace. 'Bear spray is very effective,' he says. 'We're trying to put a message to people to carry bear spray, learn how to use it, and carry it where it is accessible.' Still, data indicates bear attacks remain relatively rare in North America. Despite the increase in encounters, fatal attacks occur on average only two or three times a year. When Bentzel and Nelson faced off with that bear a decade ago, they were ready for it. THE DAY THEY ENCOUNTERED the grizzly, Bentzel and Nelson were on the second day of a four- to five-day peak-bagging trip in Glacier National Park. They aimed to complete the 45-mile-long Traverse, which follows the north-central Continental Divide, over 25 miles involving off-trail navigation through some of the highest grizzly bear densities in the contiguous United States. Bentzel had lived in Montana for over 10 years, although he grew up in York, Pennsylvania. Nelson was born in Kalispell, Montana, near Glacier National Park. Both men enjoyed weekend climbing trips. They were familiar with the outdoors, each having more than a decade of experience working on trail crews in grizzly country, where they built and maintained hiking trails for the public. Bentzel, who was 39, had summited many of the park's named peaks and had invited Nelson, then 30, to join him on the expedition that July of 2015. They packed lightly, bringing sleeping bags, small tents, and food. During the two previous days, they had noticed occasional bear digs and piles of bear scat, but weren't alarmed — after all, they were in northwestern Montana. Their goal that day was to head toward a notch between two mountains. Their first threshold was crossing a steep, snow-filled gully with a creek flowing through it. Bentzel crossed easily using his ski poles, but Nelson hesitated, struggling with his old, slick, treadless shoes. The weather turned for the worse; temperatures dropped, and winds increased. Low-hanging clouds obscured their view of the peaks they intended to climb, so they decided it wasn't ideal to get up high, though they still wanted to make progress. Next, they had to traverse a steep, snow-covered goat trail along Guardhouse Mountain's east face. One misstep could send them sliding into a waterfall, and they were uncertain about what lay on the other side. Without ice axes, they carefully kicked steps into the snow. They were relieved knowing they wouldn't have to return the same way they came. Dropping below the snowline, they marched through a rocky scree field an hour later into a copse of stunted conifer trees. Suddenly, two little fur balls — grizzly cubs born six months earlier — blasted out of the bush in a blur only feet away, passing them and then disappearing into the forest. 'I could've reached down and touched them,' Nelson tells me. Bentzel and Nelson looked at each other. 'Damn! Did you see that? Ah, man, where's Mom?' Bentzel asked. Sows will charge humans or other animals if they approach their cubs too closely. The men heard rustling in the bushes uphill to their right. Terrified, they both yelled, 'Hey, bear, hey bear.' As they turned to investigate the noise, a large, wet, haggard grizzly, dark brown with cinnamon streaks, charged toward them from 50 feet away. Its ears were erect and pointed forward as it closed the distance in just two or three bounds, reaching speeds of approximately 35 miles per hour. They had seconds to react and zero time to think. The bear was inches away when Nelson fell backward, uphill. He could smell the musky, wet dog smell. The bear blew right past him in a straight line toward Bentzel. Meanwhile, Bentzel fumbled with his bear mace canister, which contains a carrier agent and a propellant that enables it to shoot 20 to 40 feet. He kept his eyes on the animal as he struggled to undo the holster attached to his pack. He was about to pull it out, but the bear came right at him when he dodged backward into a scrubby little fir, the closest thing around. The bear blew past him half a stride, dug its front claws in the dirt, then spun a quick 180 and lunged at Bentzel. After swatting him, the bear roared into his left ear and rolled him back and forth with its paws. The bruin straddled him with all four legs and thrashed Bentzel's head repeatedly before trying to roll him. Bentzel stared at his stomach and protected his organs. During a grizzly attack, experts like Manley suggest lying in the fetal position, covering your stomach, being quiet, and playing dead. Manley thinks it's all about knowing bear behavior and if the bear is defending something.'If the bear was surprised, protecting cubs and guarding food then the bear is just trying to neutralize you and move on,' Manley says. If the bear is acting predatory, he recommends trying to act aggressive. This is what the bear did with Bentzel and Nelson, otherwise they wouldn't be here to share their story. Nelson wondered how they would get a Medevac flight out of there if Bentzel were in too bad shape to walk out. The cloud level was so low, with strong gusts of snow and rain, that a chopper couldn't land and a ground rescue might take days. Nelson climbed to his feet, pulled out his bear spray, and sprinted toward the bear. Distracted, the bear leapt off Bentzel and charged Nelson, getting within a foot as he sprayed it directly in the face. The audible release of the pressurized gas, followed by the burning, blinding, and gasping sensation. The bear veered off and disappeared into the greenery. But not for long. Nelson approached Bentzel as he staggered up, grabbed him by the shoulders, and looked square into his eyes. Trees still surrounded them. They needed to get into a clearing. They were both amazed he was alive. Their heads swiveled as they fretted that the momma could still be around as they left the forest and backtracked 50 yards into the scree field. With the rain pouring down, it seemed like Bentzel's hand was losing blood by the liter. He patted down his body to see if anything else was hurt, broken, or bleeding — all clear. His pack was surprisingly unscathed. They planned to bandage his hand. But suddenly, the bear charged back out of the trees 100 feet above. The same momma bear dropped down, darting down the hill like she would steamroll them, but she slammed the brakes and skidded in the scree within 20 feet. Then, the roughly 400-pound mother stood seven feet tall, bluff-charging by standing up and dropping down repeatedly. The bear growled, huffed and clacked her teeth — making sure her message of getting away from her cubs got across. They stood there holding their bear spray at the ready. Finally, after a few seconds, she gave them one last glare and bolted off. Bentzel now felt comfortable inspecting his hand. His brand-new red raincoat had a perfect slice in the sleeve by his wrist. His glove was soaked with blood. His adrenaline was pumping so hard he couldn't feel anything. He peeled it off and saw the bear had slashed a few-inch gash in the lower, meaty part of his hand above his wrist. Skin was peeled back, but he could still move it. No tendons or muscle damage. There were claw marks across his watch. Nelson applied gauze from his first-aid kit to stop the bleeding. 'Well, what do we do now?' asked Nelson. 'We're halfway through this trip.' 'I want to get the hell out of here,' Bentzel answered. They decided to backtrack — it was the shortest way, and they worried Bentzel might need stitches. Nervously, they kept looking over their shoulders, hoping they weren't being tracked by other bears as they returned to the ridge silently, trying to comprehend what had just happened. Hours later, they reached the unnamed lake where they had stayed the night before. That evening, they illegally made a fire to get warm, dry their gear, and gorged themselves on food. That night was sleepless. They freaked out about attracting other predators that would be attracted to the smell of blood. Bentzel had a bloody bandage on his wrist and hand, and all night, they stirred at the slightest sounds. The next day was a beautiful, clear day. They were bummed they weren't still bagging peaks but relieved to be alive. They arrived home late Saturday night, and Bentzel drove to North Valley Hospital in Whitefish Monday morning. A week later, he returned to work in the backcountry. Ten years later, Bentzel believes, 'Once, the mother knew her cubs were safe…She wouldn't shred me, but she told me, Hey, stay away from my kids.' Bentzel also believes that the weather saved him. Since leaving camp the morning before, he'd placed a Gore-Tex pack cover over his pack and had worn his climbing helmet because of falling rocks, which he kept on all day. His hood over his helmet also helped shed rain. Normally, he would attach his helmet to his pack, but he couldn't stretch his pack cover over it, so he wore it. The helmet prevented the bear from splitting his head open like a melon or tearing his face off. Bentzel feels fortunate it wasn't any worse and it hasn't deterred him from seeking adventure. 'Mom was only doing what comes naturally by protecting her young. I hold no ill feelings towards bears. Being a dad now makes me realize that your child's safety is paramount to anything else.' 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Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Fire in Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest closes part of Big Hole River
Dual smoke columns from the Sawlog Fire is pictured on the afternoon of May 3rd (USFS Photo) A 1,400 acre fire in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest has closed a portion of the Big Hole River. The Sawlog fire is burning about 15 miles northeast of Wisdom. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks closed the river from Muddy Creek Bridge downstream to Sportsman's Park Fishing Access. Sportsman's Park Access Site remains open, the agency said in a release. The Sawlog dispersed camping area is also closed. The water closures are due to the river being used for bucket drops on the fire. On Thursday morning, 173 personnel were on the fire. Smokejumpers and hotshot crews were part of the response, according to Inciweb. The fire was reported on May 1 and the cause is underdetermined and under investigation, Anna Bateson, the Public Information Officer for the Sawlog Fire said to the Daily Montanan. Fire crews have 20% of the fire contained with lines established along the northern and southern borders of the fire. Crews have been making use of previous hand lines and have been working on mop-up duties. Four crews, three engines, and two helicopters have been among the response to the early-season fire. The fire is burning through timber, sagebrush and short grass. Bateson said there are some areas of 'heavy' dead and downed trees near the fire. A cold front passing through the area could put winds on the fire up to 40 mph on Thursday, according to the fire situation report. 'Fire behavior may pick up today just due to the winds with the dry, cold front passes through,' Bateson said. 'So, you know, maybe little more moderate than the smoldering and creeping than they've seen in the past couple days.'
