Action in the den! Another long bout of raucous play between Lily and Hope today, with Faith and Jason along for the ride—quite literally! Then Lily leaned out the entrance to eat snow and the cubs crawled into their familiar spot under her. When Lily pulled back into the den, the cubs were left behind! Faith was wide-eyed right in front of the camera, but Jason was so far out we could only see a bit of his fur! Faith was soon back in the den, but Jason crawled out of camera range. Hope made the first move to retrieve him but was quickly joined by Lily. Hard to tell who was doing the grunting. Hope pulled Jason back into the den by a hind leg as Lily nudged him with her nose! Both cubs certainly have their eyes open but they will more fully open over the next few days. The action in the den today was way too much for one video, so there are two; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwN-7h_BwsI and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d5NxMp-00I.
Action is needed in the form of letters. The main target is Representative Denny McNamara, Chair of the Environment and Natural Resources committee. Any bill we introduce in the House would be introduced through his committee, and bills in that committee don’t get heard unless the Chair says so. And he said he wouldn’t be interested in hearing a bill on the bears unless there is a public outcry.100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
A key person is our local Representative David Dill. Without his support, nothing will happen. He will say what kind of bill, if any, we can introduce. He would especially be influenced by letters from Minnesota hunters.
Representative David Dill
273 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
St Paul, MN 55155
A spark plug in this is Representative Phyllis Kahn. She is willing to author a bill in conjunction with Representative Dill and any others you can put pressure on to get involved. No senator is involved yet. Representative Kahn will read your letters, gauge what we can do, and pass your letters on to whomever she thinks needs to see them.
Representative Phyllis Kahn
353 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
St Paul, MN 55155
651-296-4257
Although we don’t have a senator to author a bill yet, the Chair of the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee where it would be heard is Senator Bill Ingebrigtsen.
St Paul, MN 55155-1606
651-297-8063
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
500 Lafayette Road
St Paul, MN 55155-4040
Here is what one hunter wrote to Commissioner Landwehr:“This morning, in the Hibbing Daily Tribune, I was appalled to read an AP story stating "Minn. DNR won't protect Radio-Collared Bears." I must say this: I don't recall any public statements prior to the will of the people. It seems like a 'slam dunk' situation here??
I have been viewing the efforts on line, of the Bear Center, and it seems that they have been in vain? Would not a special (fluorescent colored) collar help in this situation? Would not a plea to the hunters attract their attention and awareness?
Has anyone in your dept., precisely yourself, made a REAL honest effort to sit down and give some time to biologist Lynn Rogers in discussion of this situation? I personally, in reading daily updates from the Center, have not seen any positive discussion between your dept. and that of the Bear Center in Ely. Maybe I'm missing something here?
I will not send a hard copy of this e-mail to your office because I feel it just isn't worth it. The 'will of the people' seems to go upon deaf ears. Sorry, but that is what is going through my mind and you'll soon be inundated with hundreds, if not thousands of letters and petitions, I would assume, not only from the good people of the Iron Range, but possibly the whole country and other countries as well. This has become a high point of interest with several children, teachers, sportsmen and us 'older' folk who enjoy the efforts of this research and to view these creatures through our Internet sources.
I am hopeful, that since I have written a previous e-mail and you promptly replied to it (thank you sir), you will just take a few minutes of your time and read this. You will probably receive this before my 'hard-copy' sent Sat. is read.
I end my attempts and do hope, in your better judgment, that you re-visit and research this particular situation a little more thoroughly. I am only one.”
Action is also coming from the media. This article was in the Minneapolis Star Tribune http://www.startribune.com/sports/outdoors/117121123.html. Another was in the Duluth News Tribune http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/192633/ and WCCO-TV (Minneapolis) did a phone interview with Lynn that might be on the news at 6 PM and 10 PM. In the interview, he hit the following points:
- There was no public input and no one had time to meet with him.
- The DNR decision didn’t take into account the value of these radio-collared bears to the 67 schools that are following them daily in Minnesota or over 500 schools following them nationwide.
- If one of these bears is killed, we can’t just put the collar on another bear and go forward, we have to start over, and it takes a long time to gain trust of the kind needed for gathering data.
- We are not studying how bears die; we are studying how they live.
- No consideration was given to the many people who are learning from these bears.
- The only thing that seemed to be considered was whether hunters should have to look twice for ribbons before shooting.
- It is easier to see the ribbons than a 3-inch antler on a deer.
- The only thing that can make a difference for protection now is a public outcry with people calling their legislators.
The interviewer asked how long Lynn has been studying bears (44 years, since early 1967). He asked how many bears are radio-collared at this moment (9). He asked about Lily and Hope.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center