New grizzly bear trapping protocols for the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team prove the old protocols--more accurately, the lack of protocols--led to the fatal bear mauling of 70 year-old botanist Erwin Evert at Kitty Creek on the Shoshone National Forest on June 17th.
Evert was killed at 2 PM by a grizzly that biologists had tranquilized, radio collared, and released at 12:30 PM before the bear was ambulatory . The bear was alert, but could not stand up. Biologists took down warning signs posted in a 50 to 100 meter radius around the trap site when they left the grizzly behind. Evert was killed just 21 yards from the exact spot where biologists left the bear. Erwin Evert walked into a death trap.
There were no warning signs posted on an old logging road that led to the trap site. There were no warning signs on the trail that led to the logging road. There were no warning signs at the Kitty Creek trailhead. Evert and other cabin owners near the Kitty Creek trailhead were never informed by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team (IBGST), Shoshone National Forest officials, or the Wyoming Game and Fish Department that grizzlies were being trapped in the area. It was 3700 feet on a straight line from the trap site where Evert died to the nearest cabin.
On June 19, U.S. Fish & Wildlife grizzly bear recovery coordinator Chris Servheen told the Billings Gazette, "We want to make sure people don't walk into these places, so they place signs lower down on the trail" warning people to avoid the area."
Servheen said, "it would be impossible to enter this area" without noticing warning signs.
"The people doing this are highly trained professionals who follow very detailed protocols. One of the most important protocols is public safety."
In fact, there were no detailed protocols and Servheen knew it--he gave the IGBST its bear trapping protocols when he signed a permit authorizing the IGBST to trap grizzlies for research purposes.
Servheen wrote, "Every possible precaution shall be taken to avoid confrontations between bears and the public, including but not limited to closure or signing of the study sites. Study sites, including capture locations, are not to be disclosed to the public."
Trapping protocols for IGBST biologists are also found in "A Manual For Handling Bears For Managers And Researchers." Written in 1993, a copy of this manual was included in Appendix 3 of the investigation of Erwin Evert's death under the heading, "Existing protocols for sign use."
It says, "The legalities encompassing bear research and management are vague. Government and state employees have the obligation to protect people. The majority of the pubic assumes that they will be warned if dangerous animals are in the area. It is difficult to define the mandatory duty of a bear researcher or manager. It all comes down to an issue of 'adequate warning.' When a researcher or manager can prevent an injury by informing the public, they have the duty to do so. Education and communication are the best tools when working with the media and the public."
Handwritten in the margins of this section of the bear trapping manual is one word: "Signs."
In essence, there was only one grizzly bear trapping protocol when Erwin Evert got killed--keep the public in the dark.
After Evert was killed, Servheen and the IGBST claimed that standard protocol was to place warning signs in a 50-to-100 meter radius around trap sites. That might have been the unwritten guideline, but there are no written guidelines about putting signs up at bear trapping sites.
On September 15, the Billings Gazette did an investigative report that showed how Servheen, the IGBST, and other agencies conspired to cover-up government wrong-doing in Evert's death.
Servheen claimed the IGBST now has new grizzly bear trapping protocols.
1. "A media release will be issued notifying the public of the broad, general location where bears will be captured."
2. "Specific trapping locations will be more heavily and clearly signed."
3. "Signs will remain in place for at least 24 hours after any bear has been captured and until the trapping crew determines that the bear has left the trap site via telemetry."
These new grizzly bear trapping protocols highlight the previous absence of protocols to protect the public. Would Erwin Evert have been killed by a grizzly if these common-sense bear trapping protocols had been in effect on June 17?
Comments