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Spring and the Bill - UPDATE April 12, 2015

Eastern ChipmunkEastern ChipmunkWoods Lake went from a small spot of open water last evening to fully open except for a 20-foot strip of ice along the south shore today with the temperature at 70° F with strong wind. Woods Lake is the first lake to open around here, so it draws early migrant waterfowl. This morning when there was only a strip of open water along the north shore, a pair of hooded mergansers stopped by. As more of it opened up, 6 geese landed and spent the rest of the day. An eastern chipmunk was busy storing sunflower seed hearts from the second floor railing here.

We feed birds and small mammals here year-round, will the DNR make us stop if bears come?

That’s a point a Lily Fan who has property here in Eagles Nest Community made at Senator Cohen’s meeting in St. Paul today. Senator Cohen is Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee that will next hear SF1303 that contains the DNR’s attempt to pass legislation to ban feeding. Senator Cohen was not familiar with the feeding ban in that bill. A Lily Fan sent some advice about dealing with the Finance Committee, and that is to focus on money for Minnesota.

Canada GeeseCanada GeeseShe wrote: “The Finance Committee's part in this Bill is extremely important. They understand only this... Money! Revenue! Profit! If the Bill is to pass in your favor in this Committee, they have to know that the continued feeding of bears will benefit the State, and that there will be a possible decrease in Eco Tourism dollars if the ban passes. Also, homeowners who partake in diversionary feeding are actually performing a public service and saving the State money in damages that will occur if the hungry bears become desperate and start to break into homes and other public spaces. These issues must be stressed by Lily fans and homeowners attending the upcoming town hall meeting. Trying to only appeal to the Finance Committee's humanity on the plight of black bears is a mistake, though it shouldn't be. Landwehr is the little demon on their shoulders that keeps whispering to them that the almighty hunting dollar will always remain King, and that Lynn's feeding of bears is a threat to that revenue. The safety issue is merely a smoke screen, as we all know too well.”

Actually, when it comes to the feeding in this community, including by WRI, the State of Minnesota benefited greatly.

Here are some examples,

 

  1. 13 worldwide TV documentaries about the research since 2008 have had audiences that ranged from 100 million to 250 million each, advertising Minnesota’s beauty and wildlife to the world in a way that cannot be bought.
  2. The Den Cams that researchers shared with the public brought thousands of people and millions of dollars to the Ely area each year.
  3. The annual LilyPad Picnic alone brings hundreds of bear enthusiasts each year, and they go up and down the main street spending money and enlisting the services of local outfitters for canoe trips, etc.
  4. The hundreds of thousands of people who watched the Den Cams in nearly a hundred countries around the world not only became interested in Ely’s bears, they wanted to help the area where these bears live. To do that, they raised $100,000 to upgrade Bear Head State Park, $50,000 to help repair Soudan Underground Mine State Park after a fire, $20,000 for new computers in Ely Memorial High School, $20,000 for playground equipment in Ely’s Whiteside Park, thousands of dollars for Ely’s Food Shelf, and $65,000 to boost the International Wolf Center...in addition to helping to make the North American Bear Center the educational institution we had dreamed and the Wildlife Research Institute’s research more than would have otherwise have been possible.

 

Canada Geese swimmingCanada Geese swimmingAll of the above was done without state or federal money. The North American Bear Center and the Wildlife Research Institute are nonprofit organizations. The top salary for any employee is $30,000.

Bear-feeding in this area has been shown through peer-reviewed scientific papers to reduce bear problems, especially in years of scarce natural food. Residents nearly unanimously say the DNR’s claims of bear public safety issues are a joke perpetrated by officials who have never visited but who are in the middle of a campaign to end our research one way or another. Newspapers repeatedly link the DNR’s bear-feeding ban legislation to its efforts to end our research. The legislature should not be a tool used by the DNR in a personal vendetta.

Another email we received today with good talking/writing points can be seen at http://www.bearstudy.org/website/images/stories/images/Updates_2015 /20150412_Letter_01.pdf

Another email we received that talks about how difficult and expensive it would for the state to enforce the vaguely worded feeding ban the DNR proposed can be seen at http://www.bearstudy.org/website/images/stories/images/Updates_2015/20150412_Letter_02.pdf.

We don’t want the wording changed, we just want it out. It would be an onerous burden on landowners and enforcement and cost the state money. It is not in the public interest and is an intrusion into the lives of wildlife enthusiasts who just want to enjoy whatever comes to their wildlife feeders. Many people enjoy seeing bears, and the preponderance of evidence from this area and from scientific reviewers is that it does not create public safety issues.

Thank you for all you do.

Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center

All photos taken today unless otherwise noted.


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