And there are people opposed to hunting them.  The estimated grizzly bear population in the Yellowstone region is roughly 40 percent higher than the prior year.  The latest guess is that there are almost 1,100 bears in the area.  A friend at Idaho Fish and Game once told me the grizzly is the only animal he knows that will hunt you as well.

With park attendance setting yearly records, encounters between people and the voracious animals will clearly increase.

the grizzly population is now at its highest since record-keeping began almost 50 years ago.

From the environmentalist viewpoint, humans are a weed and should simply stay away.  I take a different view.  When people see our expansive wilderness, they have a better appreciation when it comes to conservation.

The Largest Population on Record

Outdoor Life explains that the grizzly population is now at its highest since record-keeping began almost 50 years ago.  This isn’t the Toklat era.  It’s difficult to make an argument about the big animals being endangered when the population is spiking.  It was last week I read a story about one particular bear being very close to the population center in Jackson.

This is now about protecting your fellow man.

Hunters Can Manage the Number

I’ll pitch a number.  Let’s issue 100 grizzly tags a year.  You also realize that not every tag will be fulfilled.  Every two years the program could be scheduled for sunset.  The three state governments impacted, Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, would work in conjunction with the federal government on the project.  If there was a year where the population estimate was low, then hunting would be suspended.

I can’t understand why this would be so difficult to adopt.  Other than self-loathing, bear huggers will always have objections.  It’s apparently all they know.

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