Grizzly Bear Problems In Idaho Aren’t Because Of Elk Ranching

A very disturbing article appeared this week in the Idaho Falls Post Register. It was written by Rob Thornberry and was entitled, “Critics Hate Ranch’s Guts”. The story is about increased grizzly bear activity around a singled-out elk ranch because of the entrails left from hunters field dressing the animals. It so happens that this particular elk ranch, Velvet Elk Ranch at Meadow Creek Lodge, provides opportunities for those interested in experiencing an elk hunt on a private hunting ranch.

Most of us are fully aware of the controversies that have plagued the Idaho elk industry of the past year or so. Most prominent in the minds of people is last summer’s debacle of how the state of Idaho handled the escape of Dr. Rex Rammell’s elk from his Chief Joseph Ranch outside Rexburg. Needless to say, the state doesn’t have a very good record in dealing with the Idaho elk industry.

We now have a situation where it appears that someone or someones are trying once again to smear the good clean industry of the Idaho elk ranchers and in this case owner Mike Ferguson of the Velvet Elk Ranch.

Let’s clarify a couple issues so everyone will understand exactly what has taken place and why. Nobody will dispute the fact that there has been increased bear activity and bear/human conflicts all over the western United States, including Idaho. There’s two reasons for that. One is an increase in grizzly bear population and the other is the results of a prolonged summertime drought and record breaking temperatures. The drought and heat have seriously limited the amount of feed bears depend on this time of year to fatten up for the coming winter months. Biologists estimate that bears need to consume as many as 25,000 calories a day right now.

To the right is a map that shows where in the United States heat has taken its toll. You can see that in Idaho above normal temperatures have persisted and all around to the east(edited from west) and south of the state much above normal temperatures have been the norm all summer.

Below is a map that shows the severity of drought throughout the U.S. All of Idaho is either experiencing severe or extreme drought conditions. In the area of eastern Idaho where the above incident occurred, much of that region is in or very near to where extreme drought is taking its toll.

I have reported on numerous occasions problems this summer with bear/human encounters. In some areas it is so bad that task forces have had to be implemented in order to deal with the problem bears. Everywhere, officials state the same reasons - increased bear populations and lack of natural preferred food.

Idaho is no different. Bears aren’t finding the food necessary to store up needed fat for the winter. They have to find food somewhere. A myth that needs to be dispelled here is that bears, even though technically are classified as carnivora, they are really omnivorous. Bears will eat meat but their preferred diet is vegetation and berries. The Get Bear Smart Society, describes the eating habits of grizzly bears this way.

Fish and meat are important sources of protein and fat. Although meat tops the list of high-quality food, most bears rely on chance carrion (including winter-killed animals). Some become very effective predators on newborn elk, moose, deer or caribou. Others live in areas where salmon, suckers or other fish spawn for part of each year.

Bears spend most of their time feeding on vegetation, insects and other more reliable, although lower calorie food sources. Plant foods make up the majority of a bear’s diet (sometimes, as much as 90%). (emboldening is mine)

There is an increase in bear problems in Idaho for sure but it’s not simply because Mike Ferguson is leaving elk gut piles in the woods. Are bears finding these gut piles? That’s obvious. Has Mr. Ferguson broken any laws? None that we are aware of but the Idaho Department of Agriculture is looking into it. Is this a problem because Idaho allows elk ranching and ranch hunting? No.

The elk industry in Idaho is governed by the Department of Agriculture not the Department of Fish and Game. This has in the past and obviously still does, create a problem for the residents of the state. The IDAG has rules that govern the disposal of dead animals on ranch properties. The owner has 72 hours in which to properly dispose of dead animals. There is a list of ways this can be done, including burying, three feet under.

This is hunting season and it is common practice that hunters leave entrails from the game they have taken in the woods. More times than not, predators and scavengers will clean it up without incident. Grizzly bears have now been officially located in parts of Idaho where they haven’t been seen in over 60 years. This tells us the grizzly is alive and thriving and spreading out.

Presently the Department of Agriculture and the Idaho Elk Breeders Association are working together to make changes to better the industry. Included in those changes are better more effective ways of disposing of dead animals.

Let’s get back to what the real problem is here. It is my understanding that leaving the gut piles has been going on for quite some time with little or no problems. Now we have a problem because grizzly bears don’t have enough preferred food to eat. They are finding the gut piles. One could look at this and say this is a good thing because it may have saved another person’s livestock or family pet from getting eaten by a hungry bear.

In cases like this, a common sense and rational approach to dealing with it would have been to notify the people that Idaho has more grizzly bears than ever and there is little natural food. With this, people should know to be on the lookout for bear problems. This effort could have easily been coordinated by different departments within the governmental structure led by the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Fish and Game and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. After all, it is their bear they are protecting. It wasn’t.

As a matter of fact, when complaints began coming into the IDFG, instead of following the procedures set forth by the department to notify the Department of Agriculture, the local fish and game representative took it upon himself to notify the press without notifying the IDAG.

One might be led to believe that perhaps this particular fish and game representative didn’t know the procedure. If that’s the case the person suffers greatly from lack of memory. Steve Schmidt, Fish and Game’s regional supervisor, is the one who began looking into the complaints involving the Velvet Elk Ranch. He is also the same official who was initially involved in the Rex Rammell fiasco.

From all that came out of the Rammell affair, I was told that much of what happened on Rammell’s property and the needless killing of his elk, would have been avoided had IDAG been notified before the IDFG took control. I was also told that much work was done to remedy that problem.

If my memory serves me correctly, this past spring when I attended the annual banquet of the Idaho Elk Breeders Association in Idaho Falls, John Chatburn of the Dept. of Agriculture spoke and told ranchers that the Fish and Game Department has been told that handling of elk ranches was the responsibility of the AG and not fish and game. They were told to notify the IDAG of any complaints or problems.

So what’s really behind this? I would like to think nothing but I have to ask about Mr. Schmidt’s actions in how this affair with complaints concerning gut piles and grizzlies at the Velvet Elk Ranch, was handled. There is an active group in Idaho working to pass legislation to put a stop to all elk ranching, not just the hunting ranches. It has also been clear that the IDFG has actively sought to shut down the industry.

In the article I mentioned earlier, Steve Schmidt said they could smell rotting flesh during the investigation of a bear attack of a hunter in nearby Island Park.

“Our officer who investigated the bear attack said that when they were standing on the site of the bear attack, that at times they could smell what appeared to be rotting flesh,” Schmidt said.

This was all part of what appeared to be an effort to blame the increased grizzly encounters on the Velvet Elk Ranch. Other incidents have occurred in that general area involving hunters and bears. Some want to pin the blame on the ranch owner. A source familiar with where the ranch is located and the location of the gut piles in reference to a separate encounter of a hunter with a grizzly, told me it is at least four tenths of a mile from the Velvet Elk Ranch. I’m not sure what these officials were smelling but I have doubts that they could smell rotting flesh from any of the ranches gut piles.

This is really a non-incident in my opinion as far as attempting to discredit once again the Idaho elk industry. This is a problem that scores of people and communities all across the west are having to deal with. This is the result of Mother Nature bestowing the region with lots of heat, no rain and lack of food for bears.

The community, along with the cooperation of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Idaho Fish and Game, need to take proper steps in alerting people of potential problems. In turn, the Idaho Department of Agriculture should take a look at how entrails and other dead animals are being handled at the Velvet Elk Ranch and others and act accordingly.

This is not an elk ranching problem. This is a hungry bear problem and should be dealt with accordingly.

Tom Remington

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