12/5/2009 10:00:00 PM Talk of the Town: Game managers follow set of rules
By BOB POSEY Special to the Courier
Most of the time I read stories and related posts about the Game and Fish Department with a chuckle. But in the past two weeks, a lot of misinformation has started to float around.
While the department answered a Nov. 1 letter about the negative impacts of hunting with a letter of our own, the recent killing of a bear in Prescott Valley has led to more misinformed postings.
Make no mistake: The Arizona Game and Fish Department will not apologize for making public safety a priority. I'll leave those apologies for individuals with no accountability for the lives of others.
I can say without hesitation that a bear traveling more than 50 miles to return to this area has become used to people. How do we know? We ear-tagged the bear from Mayer before releasing it. This was the same bear.
Public safety was an issue, and, as a law enforcement agency, we must make difficult decisions. If a police officer saw a man holding a gun on a victim, should the officer wait for the man to kill or injure the victim before intervening?
We have an obligation to public safety, and we have well-trained professionals who understand wildlife behavior to make those decisions. Misinformation from individuals with no background in wildlife does a disservice to the population as a whole.
Bears are top-of-the-food-chain predators that are omnivorous. They eat almost anything. Associating black bears with Winnie the Pooh, Yogi and Smokey the Bear is a mistake.
Does the potential for a lawsuit play a role in our decisions? I'd be lying if I said "no," but to simplify matters into a single category is too simplistic. Factors we must consider include public safety, possible litigation, available habitat, male vs. female, adult vs. juvenile, and the degree to which they have become accustomed to people.
Humans as a whole have created many of the troublesome issues wildlife face. Loss of habitat and fragmentation are the leading cause for extinction and vehicles are the number one killer of wildlife in the nation, accounting for the death of more than one million vertebrate animals each day.
Game and Fish receives no general fund money (your taxes) and the fact is, it is hunting and fishing dollars that help mitigate these problems.
This summer might have been the Year of the Bear in the Prescott-Prescott Valley area. We even had an incident in the middle of Kingman. When applicable, we tag a bear and it moves on.
When we consider it a public safety threat, we have to euthanize it. Make no mistake, this will happen again. Game and Fish follows protocol - which we vetted with the public and outside organizations - when making decisions on lethal removal or relocation. This is a public document and segments have appeared in articles.
The public can help by securing garbage cans, planting only native vegetation, ending the habit of feeding wildlife (you can't feed just the cute ones), getting pets in at night, and removing easy water sources.
Wildlife knows how to survive without such help. In fact, feeding, intentional or unintentional (open garbage, outdoor pets), can condition wildlife to remain near humans and, ultimately, lead to a death sentence.
In my experience, those screaming loudest are the biggest violators and are not responsible or accountable for their actions. It's much easier to blame Game and Fish.
The department has spent and continues to spend significant amounts of money on research about mountain lions and coyotes in urban areas. This information will lead to better understanding and refinement of our management techniques.
I do find it somewhat ironic that Game and Fish conducted a public meeting in Prescott Valley - with seating for more than 100 people - over the summer to discuss bear issues and the decision-making process. About 35 people attended. I'd suggest people take the time to attend such events and give themselves an opportunity to communicate with Game and Fish.
It's easy to slam the department, but how many people have spent time looking at what we do? The department recently re-introduced native, endangered Gila trout into Grapevine Creek. It has captured and moved pronghorn to restore populations around Arizona. The Upper Verde River Wildlife Area, open to the public, is owned by Game and Fish and managed for the benefit of habitat and wildlife, including the reintroduction of wild turkeys and the recent treatment of Stillman Lake to accommodate the reintroduction of native fish. Not mentioned, of course, is the work for endangered black-footed ferrets, California condors, Mexican gray wolves, and Sonoran pronghorn, to name just a few.
We also maintain public access to large swaths of land, not just for hunters, but also for all who enjoy the outdoors. We keep the waterways safe, restore habitat, and have recently worked on several innovative projects designed to get wildlife safely across roadways.
Instead of providing such inaccurate and potentially harmful posts, why not get outside, participate in a cleanup, volunteer, or attend a Game and Fish workshop to become better educated?
Many opportunities are available to help wildlife from a hands-on perspective. I do understand it's much easier to sit behind a computer and formulate an opinion than it is to get out and get dirty. But, you might just find more satisfaction in helping than in complaining.
I'd like to offer this opportunity as well: For those with questions, e-mail zmocarski@azgfd.gov. Also, check our website or contact other wildlife agencies. But get educated.
Bob Posey is the Region 3 supervisor of the Arizona Game and Fish Department in Kingman.
Reader Comments
Posted: Sunday, December 06, 2009
Article comment by:
What's with the Bears?
I saw a roadkilled bear on I-40 last week, the first I'd ever seen. I've lived in Arizona all my life and have spent a major part of that in the backcountry, and have seen less than a dozen bears ever. In the time that I've lived in the Prescott area, bear contacts have always been infrequent. Until this summer, that is. Is there a reason that bear-human contacts are becoming so much more common? Why are the bears coming into town when they almost never used to? I know it was a pretty dry summer, but we've had them before- what's different this year?
Posted: Sunday, December 06, 2009
Article comment by:
Nature Lover
Thank you Mr. Posey and thanks to all your officers, for making the hard, but correct decisions. I have been a hunter in my younger years, and I love animals, but I realize that there are checks and balances to be maintained, and that the safety of the public out weighs the "rights" of the animals. It is always easier to Monday morning quarterback decisions made by others than it is to make those decisions yourself. When I lived in the Phoenix area, people in Sun City were complaining about coyotes killing their small dogs and cats, and about seeing them on their golf courses. Come to find out, that a bunch of "blue hairs" were putting food out for them at night, because they "felt sorry for them". Sorry, but people cant have it both ways.
Posted: Sunday, December 06, 2009
Article comment by:
S. Bear
Well said, Bob. Unfortunately, it's too easy for some (the lazy ones) to criticize azgfd based on preconceived (and uninformed) notions than it is to do as you say, get educated.
