Montana Bears & Me

I have a thing for bears.

I don’t know exactly what it is but I find them intriguing, rugged, and yet curiously “cuddly.”

One of my favorite all-time photos is of a black bear sitting at a picnic table.  Its ears are erect, as is its posture.  The look on its face is priceless–patient, polite and expectant.  You can almost read his thoughts:   “Okay, I’m ready.  Please present me a pot roast or a huckleberry pie.”

Bears have an agility and athleticism I find surprising.  How is it a black bear that weighs anywhere from 150 to 250 pounds has the balance to climb across a rope and reach the edible “prize” inside a bird house?  The pictures just crack me up.

Maybe my curiosity comes from several close encounters.  One morning while canoeing on the Bitterroot River with my wife and two youngest kids not far from my home, we saw something swim across the river about 500 yards downstream.  As we got closer, we realized it was a black bear.  When we silently floated by, we saw it standing on its hind legs eating berries off a bush.  It turned, saw us, got this look of horror on its face and started sprinting up the mountainside at full speed.  At that point, we whooped and hollered as it never broke stride until lumbering out of sight.  A great memory.

A couple of summers ago, I was fly fishing with my brother on a stream in the Bitterroot Mountains.  As I worked hole after hole, I heard a branch snap.  I looked up and there was a black bear about 30 feet up a tree some 25 yards from where I stood.  I yelled to my brother to come see.  The bear’s head shot around, its ears immediately perked up and there was that look of horror again.  It flew down that tree like a fireman shooting down a fire pole, snapping off branches along the way.  I was fascinated as I watched, then quickly realized I hoped it was spooked and not angry.  After all, I don’t think I could fend it off with a 5-weight fly fishing rod.  Luckily, when he hit the ground, he bolted the opposite direction from me into the underbrush.  Good times!

My job opened the door for several up close experiences.  One time I was with wildlife biologists as they transferred a young grizzly who got stuck in a bear resistant garbage container back into the wild, but they made me stay in my truck as it bounded away to freedom.

Several years ago, I accompanied a group of wildlife biologists into the backcountry above Seeley Lake with a camera to get video of their work for a grizzly bear population study.  Much like when I hunt in grizzly country, we kept checking over our shoulders to make sure nothing was sneaking up on us. 

A couple of years later, as part of that same study, I discovered hilarious motion-sensitive video of grizzly and black bears rubbing up against trees.  They  became known as the “dancing bears.”

My best memory is one I shared with the world.  On September 9, 2003, I grabbed a camera and headed out on my dinner break to check on the report of a black bear up a tree in the Missoula city limits.  One thing led to another and the tranquilized bear fell out of the tree, bounced on a trampoline, went airborne, then plummeted back to earth and landed on its face.  The video went across the country and around the world in a matter of days.)

I do hope to have more bear encounters and I think my fascination with them will only increase over time.  Now, if I could just see a grizzly in the wild–as long as it’s not my final encounter EVER (if you know what I mean.)

Taxpayers vs. Taxpayers

Do lawmakers really look out for the taxpayers who elect them?  Do they understand where the money comes from that supports public programs and pays their salaries?  In this day and age of budget deficits and threats of government shutdowns I really wonder if they do. 

Here's a prime example.  On April 1 (yeah, April Fool's Day), Missoula County Commissioners joined three environmental groups by filing a lawsuit against the Montana Department of Transportation.  They are concerned about MDOT's decision to approve a plan by Imperial Oil Company to ship 207 massive shipments of oil refinery equipment through Montana into Canada.  Let's see, the Missoula County Commission is funded by taxpayer money.  The Montana Department of Transportation is funded by taxpayer money.  Am I missing something here?  Why in the heck would a county government use taxpayer money to knowingly sue another public organization funded by taxpayer money?  Why?!?  The National Wildlife Federation, Montana Chapter of the Sierra Club and the Montana Environmental Information Center were already filing suit on their own.  Why did Missoula County join in?  Is this a belligerent, all-knowing, chest-pounding stand of "we know what's better for your money than you do?" 

You can agree or disagree with allowing "megaloads" to travel through Missoula County, but that's NOT the issue.  The issue is our elected government leaders consciously made a decision to use taxpayer money in a lawsuit against another public organization that also uses taxpayer money.  We interviewed Missoula County Chairperson Jean Curtiss.  She explained the commissioners' actions by saying, "This was kind of a last resort. It wasn't something that we weighed lightly, but we decided that we needed to get these questions answered and this was the only way to get it done."  Really? 

When our reporter asked Curtiss how much this suit will cost the taxpayer, her response was nothing because the county will use existing resources the county attorney is already paid for his work for the county.  Really?  It costs the county nothing?  Time is money!  And in this case, time dedicated to an environmental suit by the county commission is time the county attorney does not dedicate to working with law enforcement to prosecute criminals.  Besides, commissioners are using our money to sue the state, which also uses our money.

It's only fitting Missoula County filed suit on April Fool's Day because this is a joke!  But the thing is, I don't think any of us taxpayers are laughing.  Are you?  The bottom line is the joke is on us!