Jo and Victoria - Oct 1, 2011Hope continues in the news, including an article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune giving the hunter’s view of the killing http://www.startribune.com/sports/outdoors/130913753.html.
Thank you for all your expressions of condolence, which we echo back to you. The care and understanding you show in so many ways is appreciated beyond what we can say. Hope was and is important to you, to us, and to bears.
Here is an example of words we have received. “I cannot explain, nor understand, how that young bear has touched me, and I feel that I will never be the same. Her short life has accomplished more than what some human lives have done. She has actually touched the world—and I thank you for giving so many people the opportunity to know her. My prayers will continue for the safety of all the research bears and all of you who are trying to educate and impress upon the world the need for understanding and co-existence. “
Hope was more than just another bear to be harvested for her meat and pelt. She became an icon. There is talk of a life-sized bronze statue. There is talk of a Hope Foundation that includes scholarships and educating at many levels. The Hope Foundation could become bigger than the Bear Center itself, just as the Education Outreach Program could become. As an example of scholarships and education at the college level, the University of Minnesota is interested in collaborating with us in a study of habitat use. Students and faculty would use our GPS data to assess bear habitat use in relation to forest management history to see which forest management practices are most beneficial to bears. This is the kind of thing that a Hope Foundation could help fund through scholarships to students who participate. In this study, Lily and her family and June and her family provided much of the data, and applying the data to bear management will be a case of Hope continuing to show how to help bears—in this case through forestry. There are so many ways that the data we are collecting can be used.
Lily and Faith have moved a couple times in the past day, but seem to be staying in the same general section of her territory as she has been for the past week. We’ll see if she actually dens there. Jo and Victoria are on the move. We’re waiting to see where they land. Braveheart is also on the move—heading deeper into her territory.
Team Bear has disbanded. We thank Team Bear from the bottom of our hearts for all they have done for over a year to reduce our debt and put us on a better footing for the future. Over 2 dozen people worked very hard under the leadership of Jill Wheaton Lindsey. Thank you to all who participated in the fundraisers and who made spontaneous donations along the way. We don’t know how to thank you all beyond continuing to work for the bears as hard as we can. Team Bear and all of you are leaving the debt greatly reduced now to less than $21,000—a huge difference from where we started less than 21 months ago.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center