Photog didn't see bear

More details emerge in the Yellowstone griz attack. The author/photographer suffered serious injuries from the attack. Officials have no plans to go after the bear, which is the right thing.

Bison to be killed

This may be more of an ag story rather than a hunting issue, but the fallout from the continued brucellosis/Yellowstone bison controversy has implications for Montana hunters. Non-hunters may not get the distinction between hunting and animal control killing to manage disease. In any case, buffalo hunts in Montana will remain controversial.

Mauled photographer speaks

The photographer attacked by a grizzly sow last week in Yellowstone has recovered to the point that he has begun describing the incident.

According to reports, Jim Cole, of Bozeman, was not photographing the bear before it attacked. Cole was mauled by a griz once before, in Glacier National Park in 1993.

Access solution

Conflicts involving river access will only increase in the future (unfortunately). So it's nice to read about solutions from time to time.

War on the Bighorn?

Montana's battle with Wyoming over river flows is getting serious.

The liberal case for gun rights

The Second Amendment debate is often cast in terms of liberals (pro gun-control) versus conservative (pro gun rights). I've long believed that framework was misleading, as the right to arm oneself is clearly a liberal position when we look at the classic definitions of liberal and conservative. Classic political philosophy suggests the support of individual rights is a liberal perspective, while the conservative position supports the authority of political institutions.

So from the classic political perspective (and least as I can best recall it from my undergrad days at U.C. Riverside studying poli sci long ago) both pro-choice and pro gun rights are liberal positions that uphold the rights of the individual, while anti-choice and anti gun rights positions are conservative in that they affirm the authority of political institutions to limit individual rights.

An any case, the modern liberal can't simultaneously hold an expansive interpretation of the First Amendment, or other elements of the Bill of Rights, and then become strict constructionists when reading the awkwardly worded Second Amendment. This story in the New York Times illustrates that point.

Weighing in on Mitchell Slough

Here's a column I wrote for Writers on the Range, which is syndicated by High Country News, on the access fight on Mitchell Slough in the Bitterroot Valley.

The implications here are big. If the landowners are successful in getting the Montana Supreme Court to allow a terrible District Court decision blocking public access to stand, expect No Trespassing signs to sprout along the side channels of Montana rivers like dandelions in May.

High water

Traveling to the Bitterroot, where I plan to work as a fly fishing guide this summer, has kept me away from the news. But recent high water — the Bitterroot is flowing at more than 2,800 cfs, or "much above normal" according to the USGS river gauge at Darby — has pretty much put the crimps on fishing for now. I'll try to catch up before the river goes down and the fishing picks back up.

Bears off list

A Fish and Wildlife official predicts delisting of Yellowstone griz will have little impact on management.