Save Black Bears from the Timber Industry

Your letters needed before February 14, 2003

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services is proposing to kill more black bears that might eat bark in tree plantations in Oregon -- and your tax dollars subsidize this wanton killing.

Timber companies claim that bears damage trees by clawing at them to get to the tree sap. The companies want the federal government to trap and kill these "offending" bears. An average of 119 bears are killed by Wildlife Services every year in Oregon because the bears could harm young trees on private and county land. Now Wildlife Services has proposed continuing and even escalating this practice.

Most of the bears are captured with leg snares, which have enough force and grip to hold a struggling bear. Wildlife Services' policy is to check the traps every other day. That means the bear could spend up to 48 hours in the snare -- even longer if Wildlife Services doesn't check it on time. Bears caught in traps are shot. If the bear has cubs (and yearling cubs will stay with a trapped mother), Wildlife Services' policy is to kill the cubs also -- simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Alternatives exist for protecting trees without killing bears. An understanding of bear behavior and foraging preferences can be used to reduce bear damage to timber through non-lethal preventive techniques and forest management practices. For example, timber corporations could manage tree farms differently to mitigate conflicts. Bears don't damage trees in uneven-aged forests or forests with a diversity of tree species. Bears rarely damage bark if their traditional food sources are plentiful, such as food in large rotting logs or berries in the forest understory. Pruning is an effective management practice that reduces bear damage to trees, as black bears prefer unpruned Douglas Fir and Hemlock. Other forest management practices, such as delayed thinning of forests, urea fertilization, and improving stand diversity can mitigate damage.

You Can Help

Write a letter to Wildlife Services prior to February 14. Letters should be addressed to:

USDA/APHIS/Wildlife Services
6135 NE 80th Avenue, Suite A8
Portland, OR 97218
Fax 503-326-2367

(Please note: Wildlife Services has indicated it will not accept comments via email).

For more information (and to obtain a copy of the Environmental Assessment), contact Kim Wagner at Wildlife Services, 503-326-2346.

Please also cc your letters to Governor Ted Kulongoski:

Office of the Governor
State Capitol, Room 160
900 Court Street NE
Salem, OR 97301-4047
503 -378-3111
Fax 503-378-6827

Please send a copy of your comments via email or mail to Brian Vincent at the Animal Protection Institute.

Points to make in your letter:

• Neither Wildlife Services nor the state of Oregon should be in the business of killing bears to protect corporate timber interests.
• You do not want your tax dollars spent killing black bears to benefit corporate timber interests.
• Wildlife Services has failed to assess the effectiveness of non-lethal alternatives.
• Wildlife Services has failed to acknowledge the important ecological role of bears in forest ecosystems.
• Wildlife Services has failed to fully analyze the environmental and cumulative impacts of killing bears to protect trees.
• It is totally unacceptable for Wildlife Services to kill the cubs of adult bears that are killed!
• Non-residents of Oregon: Make it clear you will not spend your tourist dollars in Oregon.

Wildlife Services will accept comments from the public until February 14. Please speak out for the bears!

For more information, contact Brian Vincent at 916-447-3085 x201 or Camilla Fox at 415-945-9309.