Late in Posting Today. Back soon. In the meantime….Bears

It was not at all cheering to hear yesterday’s announcement that the Bush Administration is delisting the grizzly—although it was not unexpected. Grizz have spent over 30 years on the endangered species list and, in that time, they have made slow but steady progress. (In the bad old days there were just a few hundred in the lower 48 states.) Conservation groups like the Sierra Club and others worry that it’s still much too early to delist them. There are approximately 1,100 to 1,400 bears in the lower 48, most of them located the Yellowstone/Glacier corridor. In short, it’s safe to say that neither America nor the local ecosystem is in any great danger of being overrun by bears. (Although Stephen Colbert would assuredly tell you otherwise.)

My mother is from Montana so I’ve spent a lots of time in the Glacier Park area over the years and have been lucky enough to have seen six or seven of the glorious beasts while up there. (The dog is always a bit undone by them.)

Why, here’s one now!