Letter: NDOW needs to change its policy
To the community,
The sow of which I speak was treed and tranquilized in the tree at Incline High School on Sept. 16.
The trapping of this sow is a travesty. This sow could have easily been handled by the book from the bear aversion training manual entitled “Responding to Human-Black Bear Conflicts A guide to non-lethal Bear Management Techniques” used by many law enforcement, wildlife agencies, and forestry bear managers in a multitude of jurisdictions here in the U.S. and Canada. It was first developed and applied in the national parks of Canada and the United States.
Walking this bear off into the desired direction could have easily been achieved with the NDOW officers present. Instead they decided to trap a lactating sow and hold her for three days. Not only has that cub gone three days without mother’s milk, that three days could slow or end the production of milk for her cub. Add to that the stress this bear and her cub have suffered to this point!
NDOW is trap/kill happy. Talk about a serious overreaction to an easily remedied situation. Carl Lackey is completely out of control and operates by the seat of his pants with no real operational plan or standards in place. And they keep little or no documentation on each trapping, release, or depredation, or so they tell us at the Bear League, other than blood draw and tagging.
On Sept. 18 criminal complaints were filed against IVGID Public Work’s Director Joe Pomroy and NDOW Deputy Director Jack Robb for violations of the Public Records Act including concealment of documents, the later of which is a Class C Felony. The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office is investigating.
And the vast majority of bears he actually releases, as opposed to killing, he releases in the Nevada bear hunt zones, by his own inadvertent admissions now and again. And I find it interesting that many of those he kills are far too small to be considered trophies to hunters. This man doesn’t even possess a degree in biology, so how exactly is he the NDOW state biologist? As far as I know being a sustainability major in college does not qualify him in any way, shape, or form to hold that title.
People need to start calling him out on the carpet and hold him and NDOW to a higher standard of professionalism, which seems to be set to a very low bar within NDOW.
Toogee Sielsch, member and bear aversion specialist for the Bear League
Its time to stop the Madness ,Its time to all to come together and solve this Hunting, trapping, killings ,Bear League ,Ndow, and the Public to address the issues ,for the safety of all our bears ,Its time to work together ,not to argue ,It does not solve the PROBLEMS ,MEETINGS ARE THE ANSWER FOR ALL TO COME TOGETHER TO VOICE YOUR CONCERNS ,Not to cut each other down,Work together.you can work it out for the Bears .Stop being hateful and stop the Madness,Love the Bears that is what they would want.People that love our bears lets stop this MADNESS.
Still beating a dead horse, Bear League??
You state, “This man doesn’t even posses [sic] a degree in biology, so how exactly is he the NDOW state biologist? As far as I know being a sustainability major in college does not qualify him in any way, shape, or form to hold that title.”
The State of Nevada minimum qualifications for Biologist 3 state a degree in “biology, WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT OR CLOSELY RELATED FIELD.”
http://hr.nv.gov/uploadedFiles/hrnvgov/Content/Resources/ClassSpecs/01/01-724spc.pdf
In my opinion, you lose credibility when you attempt to make an issue out of nothing…. and continue to do so.
Those who truly love the bears would realize that they do not belong living next to humans. The bear league and their practices are more harmful and result in more bears needing to be handled in aggressive ways than any other group involved. Were they to just disappear perhaps we could actually adopt one of the many successful bear programs used in other states and stand a chance at saving the bears they claim to care so much about.
Well Steve, that just proves that Nevada is rapidly gaining on Texas as the newest national embarrassment. Carl Lackey is qualified to clean animal feces off the ground in my state.
From the letter: “And they keep little or no documentation on each trapping, release, or depredation, or so they tell us at the Bear League, other than blood draw and tagging.”
Ndow keeps records of every bear caught; where it’s caught; the circumstances; whether it’s a hard or soft release; how many times the bear has been caught in the past; the bear’s condition/health, etc… They’ve published many studies based on the extensive data collected.
“Ndow is trap/kill happy” Your group is based in California yet doesn’t seem to have a problem with the number of depredation permits issued in that state each year, let alone the hunt. So what gives? Why the obsession with ndow but the cdfw gets a pass?
And what does Joe Pomroy have to do with ndow? What were the complaints? Who brought them?
I agree with all the above comments, especially “stop the madness.”
Yes WalkingMom, if Anne (nuisance) Bryant and her minions would just go away, we could live in better harmony with our bears. She has forever been a complete nuisance to us with HER bears and their NAMES. She needs Psycho help.
Bears are going to be trapped and hunted. It’s as old as time. Get used to it. I personally don’t hunt bears though I am a hunter. It’s a personal choice, plus who would want to eat a Tahoe bear. They feed on garbage….right Anne? You’ve been known to feed wild animals your garbage you hypocrite.
Kit, you stated “Bears are going to be trapped and hunted. It’s as old as time. Get used to it”. In case you have not noticed lately, things are changing. One instance is the use of dogs in CA. Trapping is going to also be a thing of the past in the not so distant future. Times are changing old fellow.
I live in Incline, and I think that things need to change. It starts with securing garbage-the problem won’t go away without this step. How to do that is a matter of disagreement, and involves political will, or lack thereof, by policy makers. In Incline IVGID kicked the can down the road last year and deferred a resolution that would have helped. I agree with Toogee that NDOW is extremely unprofessional. Do they always follow policy and ask permission from private property owners before installing a trap? Do they always notify neighbors so that dogs and children are not hurt by their bear traps? They have killed bears with overdoses of anesthetic. If I did this to humans I would be charged with malpractice. As a public agency they need to be accountable to the public. What is the problem with that?
And finally, this ridiculous comment: “Bears are going to be trapped and hunted. It’s as old as time.” I’ll bet in past times people said the same about slavery and women’s suffrage, and the approach to these issues appropriately changed with time. Bears don’t have to be trapped and hunted, it is only hunters and trappers and other misinformed people who believe they do.
The Point, and the facts clearly state Ndow and Bear League work together, Every time a trap is set,They both are aware of it, Now ask yourself this Its a trap to trap each other ? ,Something is not clear to say the least ,Both parties are not answering questions or solving the Problem are they ?Stop the Madness between each other ,Everything is said bad about the Bear League ,Everything said is bad about NDOW ITS time to quit this madness and get both of them to solve the Problem.Are any of these people any good ? REALLY HOW MANY MORE TIMES ARE WE GOING TO HAVE TO HEAR ABOUT ,HOW MANY BEARS ARE TRAPPED? ,HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE THE RIGHT GARBAGE BINS,? HOW MANY ARE KILLED ?WHERE IS THE SOLUTION ?
“The State of Nevada minimum qualifications for Biologist 3 state a degree in “biology, WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT OR CLOSELY RELATED FIELD.””
So Steve, you see being a game hunter as the equivalent to a degree in biology or even in wildlife management? Wildlife management in the sense that he excels at killing things for a trophy?
Huh. GET REAL! You’re speaking about apples and oranges.
Just another misinforming letter from the Bear League. They are loosing credibility very quickly. Its the people that consider them neighborhood pets and allow them to live in the neighborhoods that are the problem. Their saying that they were here first and we built on their land is complete B.S. There might have been bears here but not this many, just take a look at how the bear population is exploding in California and the basin. We didn’t have this problem until the bear league moved in. The woman that runs the B.L does nothing but harass homeowners when they have issues with bears. She has been doing it for years. She told my neighbor that if he applied for a depredation permit that he would be run out of town and never work in this town again. They lie on their facebook page to improve their personal reputation all the time. Since I cant post pics here I will give you some dates and you can look for yourselves on their facebook.
Check out the post on 9/17/15 (Small skinny bear).
Post on July 24 2013 (Bear trap set at Veterinarian with address posted)
Post on June 16 2011 (Just got back from chasing this little bear).
I have called them out doing the same thing in other instances and was banned immediately from their page. They hide behind freedom of speech when they get sued but sure don’t allow it on their page. Anyone who stands up for themselves on their page gets banned. They are a complete joke!!
I want my post to be constructive and thought provoking. I’m not interested in badgering or being rude. I would just like to throw out some observations.
Regarding Steve’s post defending Lackey’s qualifications with the job posting minimum requirements, Toogee addressed this when he said, “People need to start calling him out on the carpet and hold him and NDOW to a higher standard of professionalism, which seems to be set to a very low bar within NDOW.”
What that means is NDOW needs to raise the bar by hiring degreed biologists with SPECIFIC training and experience.
Here’s a clip from a Tahoe Daily Tribune interview question to Carl Lackey:
“Q: Did you start with the bears or just wildlife in general?
A: I started titling boats in the Reno office and then I moved to a wildlife management area. I Kind of just lucked into the bears. It wasn’t planned that way.”
Enough said.
___
These archaic methods practiced by NDOW will only continue to anger people. Both sides would benefit from a change in policy and methods. Then, NDOW could gain back some trust and respect. We have to come to some type of common ground, but that won’t happen as long as the beloved bears continue to be man-handled in the name of conservation.
We should learn from The Bear Smart Society in Whistler, BC. http://www.bearsmart.com/ They don’t have nasty, ongoing disagreements with the public. They handle the bears in a humane manner and that is the way life is there. For example, they have policies in place such as, “Use Traps must be child/bear-friendly and family units must be live trapped and released together.”
Do you know what a difference this simple policy would have made during this latest incident? Was everyone this mad the first time they caught this sow AND cub together?
We shouldn’t focus on the most hated man in Tahoe, because in all fairness, he has gotten away with his method of operation for a long, long time. He needs to be tightly supervised and his actions checked, and cross checked. A little aversion training for his methods can make a world of difference. We should focus on changing NDOW’s policies, as they relate to bear management. Just because they are a public agency, doesn’t mean they aren’t making mistakes or that they know better than everyone else. They are OUR agency as much as these are OUR bears.
People need to be controlled as much or more than the bears.
Mandatory bear-proof garbage boxes will not solve the entire problem as there is really no way to keep idiots from tossing food garbage into the woods. Some vacation renters, by my witness, actually think it is fun to turn on the yard lights and watch the wildlife come tear into the garbage or food put out for bait.
In my neighborhood there is a person who intentionally walks a well used trail along the Upper Truckee at night and throws food scraps out. They have been warned by officials before, and now it is a “catch me if you can game”.
The perps are winning.
The bear league group practices their own form of idiocy and intimidation, and, in my opinion are responsible for some of the problems.
Their inflammatory rhetoric, flagrant interference with official processes and outright threats to those they see as problem people, entices other equally moronic types (like my neighbor) to take actions guaranteed to cause bear incidents.
Live clean and don’t litter and the problem will be measurably diminished.
Yes Kits’ if you (nuisance) and your minions would just go away, we could live in better harmony with our redumblican friends.
Dog…Nevada took a huge step towards Tex-klahom-ansas when you moved across the state line. Good riddance.
I decline to comment on this thread
Well said,Toogee. And excellent timing given that NDOW just killed another bear through negligent use of tranquilization – the fourth in 18 months. Their deputy director has also had a criminal complaint field against him last week for felony concealment of public documents. And, finally, the Department is being sued for failure to properly regulate trapping.
Is that the same Mark Smith that got caught on a surveillance camera staging an open dumpster to shame a property owner?
Mr. Lackey holds a sustainability major? That is ironic. How can he claim to be practicing sustainablability when he kills roughly half of the bears that he encounters in Incline Village?