WCCO-TV in Minneapolis conducted a poll after broadcasting a pro-protection story last night on the news (http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2011/03/01/bear-researcher-dnr-rule-endangering-collared-bears/). Results were overwhelming—14 to 1 in favor of protection for radio-collared bears. Thank you to all who found that poll and participated. Actual numbers—847 in favor to 60 against. WCCO announced today that people responded from around the world. We hope legislators find out about this. We want legislators to feel the support. We want them to confidently support to protection.
It’s time for letters from everyone everywhere to legislators, the governor, Commissioner Landwehr, and the media. Last week, we didn’t want Minnesota letters to get lost in the pile. Now, it’s time for the pile. Let them know how you feel about the DNR decision, about the bears, what you have learned, how bears have changed your views, what they mean to your children and grandchildren, and whether the bears are drawing you to vacation in Minnesota.
This is not against hunters and hunting—many responsible hunters are on our side. This is to gain the support of legislators and other officials.
If you are a teacher, consider using the protection issue as an opportunity to teach civic responsibility to students. Teaching students the role they can play in civic issues and how they can relate academic activities to real-life experience can encourage personal development and lifelong civic participation. Writing letters to legislators shows students how to be active contributors to their communities rather than passive recipients of adult decisions.
Send copies of your letters to us at
In order to concentrate on the protection issue, Team Bear will be putting the ‘New Beginnings’ fundraiser on hold beginning at 10:00 AM Central Time tomorrow. In their words, “We want to THANK everyone who has donated and participated in the Fundraiser!! The bears, the NABC and ALL of us appreciate you more than you will ever know. Now let’s get to work on protecting our bears!! We will look forward to seeing everyone in the fundraiser again soon!!”
Chronology is back on Facebook—what a relief! Many thanks to those who persevered during the dark days of ‘relevancy’ to celebrate the return of order. And special thanks to the Lily Mods who did their very best to make the most of the chaos!
Today, Hope attempted to drag Jason away from Lily by a hind leg. Jason didn’t squawk. This shows that Hope has learned to control the power of her bite, something that we expect in a bear’s second year. We knew this control developed in their second year, but we never had an opportunity before to observe a bear this early in its second year. We keep learning. Video of the ‘leg pull’ is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpeNsgyYq7I.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center