Photo: Michigan DNRE
Click here to listen to the audio version of the story from Michigan NOW.
For the past 3 weeks, Michigan bear hunters have been nervous. The state body that makes the rules was going to make it harder to get a license. But people with access to private land would get licenses easier. After an earful from average guys, the Natural Resources Commission changed course. Michigan Now’s Chris McCarus has the story.
Michigan has thousands of bear hunters. About 40 of them showed up for the Natural Resources Commission meeting on April 8 in Lansing.
“It’s astounding to me. I can’t even believe it. I can’t even believe it, that I go to sleep one night in a state that’s governed by a representative republic type of government and wake up in some kind of a monarchy where only the landed gentry will be given the first option and a big chunk of the natural resource to do what they see fit with?”
Dave Smith is a member of the Clare Rod and Gun Club. That might sound exclusive. But their natural boundaries are expressways 10 and 127 and the Clare airport. Smith is resentful of what he would call the big guys in club country. They’re often metro Detroiters. For generations they’ve controlled thousands of acres in the northeast lower peninsula. The clubs stretch from about Alpena to Tawas City.
“Land owners or individuals have presented the idea that they feel there’s an overabundance of bears in their area.”
Adam Bump is the DNRE’s bear specialist. Thursday he explained why the department was considering a new system: one license to hunt on public land. And a different one to hunt on private land. The total number of bears killed wouldn’t go up. But private club owners would have gotten to a larger percentage of bears. They have been promoting this two tiered system.
“They had some concerns about it and they felt they needed to be able to harvest more bears to manage bears in their area.”
So what are the numbers? 2 years ago, The DNRE estimated there were 19,000 black bears. That was adults and cubs. This year the DNRE says there are only 11,000 adults. The extra numbers for cubs weren’t available. No one from club country came to the NRC meeting in Lansing. But some commissioners say, the club owners say they need more permits for nuisance bears. No way says John Hudson from Carney west of Escanaba. He’s had long meetings with other bear hunters.
“Every hunter in the room with the exception of two guides, big guides, said the bear numbers were down. Every single one. There was 50 some people at St. Ignace last year. Even the guides said they were down.”
It’s not easy to define a nuisance bear. Does he eat too many crops? Does he climb up trees in your yard? Has he torn up garbage or a shed? Does he seem too comfortable around people? In 2008, Battle Creek police were answering a domestic violence call at 2 in the morning. On their way into the neighborhood, they saw a bear on his hind legs. They shot at him 4 times and rammed him with the squad car. The next day, a mother told the Enquirer that she thought the bear would get into the garage. “I have a 3 year old and it’s kind a scary,” she said. The DNR wished the cops had called them to dart the bear instead of killing it. They want to keep bears out of town and out of the news. Here’s Adam Bump again, the DNRE bear specialist.
“The wildlife division is gonna look at protection of the resource and management based on biological science first. Look at providing recreational opportunities and look at resolving conflicts. And this is one of those where how do we resolve all three of those topics and try to resolve this conflict.”
The DNRE will give out 11,000 permits to kill just as many bears. But most years, the total number killed is about 2,000. Whether you’re an auto worker from Flint or a CEO from Bloomfield Hills, Hank Bailey says you’re taking too much. Bailey is from the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians.
“A lot times I get people come up to me and they tell me it was just awful what happened to your people along time ago. I’m compelled to tell these people that these things are still happening to my people this day 174 years after our Treaty of Washington was signed in 1836. We’re still struggling to hang on to our treaty rights and our ability to access the natural resources that was reserved to us in that treaty.”
At the of the Natural Resources Commission meeting Thursday, commissioners voted to dump the plan for 2 different kind of bear licenses. Instead they said they’ll study more about nuisance bears plus bear management on private land.