Grizzly Bear Defenders Fight Logging Projects

Environmentalists say the U.S. Forest Service is paving the way to grizzly bear deaths by opening one of America's five remaining grizzly bear habitats to road construction and logging. The Alliance for the Wild Rockies says the Forest Service's approval of three new projects will hurt the 45 grizzlies that remain in the region. Grizzly bears produce small litters at older ages than other bears; they are "hard to grow, but easy to kill" and have one of "the slowest reproductive rates of North American mammals," according to the federal complaint. A single grizzly bear's range may cover hundreds of square miles. And the Alliance says that 69 percent of grizzly bear deaths are caused by humans. It adds that roads "literally pave the way for these mortalities" by giving humans access to the bears. These projects authorize construction of more than 14 miles of new roads, reconstruction of 2.4 miles of roads, temporary reopening of 5 miles of closed roads and permanent reopening of 3.5 miles of roads. The projects will open up 3,988 acres of the endangered grizzly bears' habitat to commercial logging. The Alliance disputes the Forest Service's conclusion that the projects will not hurt the grizzly bears...read more