Energy workers not "bear aware"

[Oak]

7/31/2007
Division of Wildlife
Energy Development Must Learn to Co-Exist with Wildlife

Increasing trash disposal problems at man camps and well pads raise concerns from wildlife officers.

Hot and dry conditions are pushing Colorado's black bears out of their natural range in a search for food. As in years past, this means that residents in bear areas need to use extra caution with attractants such as trash, pet food, barbeque grills and birdfeeders; however, beyond the usual warnings and challenges, officials with the Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW) are seeing some new problems crop up this year.

Bears are finding new sources of human food among the thousands of energy industry employees who work and, in some cases, live in prime black bear habitat.

"Trash storage and trash disposal at man camps is the biggest issue right now," explained J.T. Romatzke, DOW district wildlife manager for the Parachute area. "Bear-proof trash containers should be provided by the companies for these facilities. Standard trash dumpsters or trash cans are not sufficient in this environment."

Energy company man camps provide housing for workers close to large energy development areas. These man camps cut expenses for workers and companies, but they equate to placing a fully operational hotel or mobile home park into prime bear habitat.

"In the past three weeks, I've taken more than 40 phone calls from energy workers who want us to 'do something' about the bears," added Romatzke. "Without cooperation on the trash, grease and food storage issues, we can't help in these situations."

Just like trash left out in town, trash strewn around well pads will attract hungry bears. Bears that become habituated to getting food from human sources also become more aggressive in their efforts to get food.

"We've had some requests for us to trap and relocate bears out of these sites," said Dean Riggs, DOW area supervisor for the Grand Junction area. "But, unlike bears that venture into town and become a nuisance, this is a situation where man has come right into the heart of the bears' habitat and we aren't willing to start punishing the bears for that."

Beyond the unwillingness to punish bears for energy development, wildlife officials aren't sure that there are places to move bears that become habituated to well site and man camp trash. With more than 90% of the public land in Northwest Colorado already leased for energy development, there aren't many places to move bears where the bear wouldn't just find another untidy well pad.

Many communities have ordinances requiring residents to deal with trash by using wildlife resistant or wildlife proof containers, but no such requirements exist for remote sites like well pads. The DOW is hopeful that energy companies and their numerous subcontractors will work to address the problem through establishing and enforcing strict trash policies and by providing proper trash disposal equipment.

To make matters worse, the DOW has begun receiving reports of energy workers intentionally feeding bears. Officers have even seen pictures of energy workers posing for pictures with bears.

"Feeding bears is against the law and we will write citations," said Ron Velarde, Regional Manager for Northwest Colorado. "This kind of human behavior jeopardizes the safety of the people feeding the bears, but more critically it jeopardizes the safety of every person the bear comes into contact with in the future."

Bears that are hand-fed will learn to expect food from people. Eventually the bear encounters people who do not provide food and that person may end up dealing with an angry bear expecting a hand out.

"This may be a situation where people come to Colorado from non-bear areas to work in the gas fields," Velarde added. "In that case, we need to work with energy companies to educate these workers about how to responsibly co-exist with wildlife. In cases where it goes beyond ignorance into blatant disregard for the law, then obviously stronger action must be taken."

Several energy companies have recognized the criminal and civil liabilities created by these feeding incidents and have invited DOW officers to conduct bear education programs for workers.

"The reception has been really positive with the programs so far," said Elissa Knox, DOW district wildlife manager for the Debeque district. "Of course, we've only talked to a couple hundred workers and there are thousands more that need to know how to keep this from becoming an even bigger problem."

The DOW produces an information brochure entitled "Living with Wildlife in Black Bear Country". The brochure is available at DOW offices. Information is also available on-line at the DOW website. (http://wildlife.state.co.us/WildlifeSpecies/LivingWithWildlife/Mammals/BearCountry.htm).

Colorado has a two-strike bear policy that allows wildlife managers to relocate bears because of nuisance incidents. If the bear returns to getting into trash or coming into contact with people, the policy requires that the bear be put down. Bears which are deemed dangerous or show undue aggression towards people may be put down by officers, regardless of if the bear has been previously relocated.

DOW Assistant Regional Manager Steve Yamashita sums the situation up: "Regardless of the bear policy, the first step to addressing human-bear conflict is always education. We want to help people understand that they must take responsibility for keeping wild bears wild. Once people cross that line - because they don't know or don't care - then bad things are going to happen, either to the bear or to a person."

The Colorado Division of Wildlife is the state agency responsible for managing wildlife and its habitat, as well as providing wildlife related recreation. The Division is funded through hunting and fishing license fees, federal grants and Colorado Lottery proceeds through Great Outdoors Colorado.

 

[BuzzH]

Get rid of the bears...the oil is more important.

The bears can hit the same highway as the elk, antelope, deer, sage grouse, etc. etc. etc. etc.

Make room for "progress"...really, its for the best.

 

[cjcj]

And all we hear is WE ARE GROWING! The headlines brag about how much growth our city is having....Were #1 is the Maricopa county credo... then they say were out of water, the air is filthy,the freeways are jammed.. etc,etc.. Growth sucks! I.M.O.

 

[Oak]

A modern-day fairy tale: Energy companies and the black bears
Humans living in bears’ habitat not a good mix

By DAVE BUCHANAN The Daily Sentinel

Sunday, August 05, 2007

With most of western Colorado being black bear country, and most Coloradans aware of it, you’d think the energy companies that have their covetous paws on nearly all the federal lands in western Colorado would be conscious of being on their best bear-friendly behavior.

Ho, ho, ho. I forget of whom we are speaking.

There’s really no way to decipher the advance planning used by energy companies when they eyeball a prime drilling site. But gee whiz, you’d think someone in the office would realize that wildlife runs wild across most of the public lands virtually donated to oil companies by the Bush administration and that the sudden appearance of trucks, trailers and garbage cans might have an impact on how these wild animals behave.

Evidently not. As countless drilling rigs move into once-wild country, their crews need some place to live close to work, hence the solution: stuffing a couple hundred men in the remote, ghastly named “man camps.”

That’s like plopping down a full-sized trailer court in the middle of bear country and then wondering why there are bears sniffing around.

And it appears energy workers aren’t much different from ranchers when it comes to dealing with wildlife. As long as the animals, whether it’s elk or bears, are hiding out or serving their proper role as targets for paying customers, everything is just fine, thank you.

But have that elk start nosing around a haystack in mid-December or that bear rips the lid off your trash can and suddenly it’s a call to the Colorado Division of Wildlife, “Come get your damn (elk/bear/deer) off my land.”

That’s exactly what’s happening on the Roan Plateau, says the DOW. Energy workers are finding themselves intruders in wildlife land and for some reason aren’t looking in the right spot for the cause of the trouble.

Instead, the workers are acting just like the good people of Boulder, who make pets out of deer and then wonder why a mountain lion is sitting on the back porch.

Rather than looking inside their own shirts, the energy companies have decided it’s easier to stalk the DOW.

“In the past three weeks, I’ve taken more than 40 phone calls from energy workers who want us to ‘do something’ about the bears,” said J.T. Romatzke, the DOW’s district wildlife manager based in Parachute.

That’s a pretty easy fix, isn’t it?

“Do something.”

“Trash storage and trash disposal is the biggest issue right now,” Romatzke said. “Bear-proof trash containers should be provided by the companies for these facilities. Standard trash (D)umpsters or trash cans are not sufficient in this environment.”

Heck, standard-issue Dumpsters or cans aren’t sufficient even in downtown Aspen, so why would anyone think those ursine pull-toys would be fine in bear country?

Oh, right. Again I forget who we’re dealing with here.

Fleets of new four-wheel drive pickups with huge tires and tiny fuel economy take precedence over a couple well-made garbage containers that may save a bear’s life.

Romatzke pointed out that once a bear gets accustomed to a food source, that bear starts to get somewhat protective. Even Goldilocks learned that it’s not wise to get between a bear and its porridge. Maybe the man camps should have storybook hour every night.

“We’ve had some requests for us to trap and relocate bears out of these sites,” DOW Area Manager Dean Riggs said. “But unlike bears that venture into town and become a nuisance, this is a situation where man has come right into the heart of the bears’ habitat and we aren’t willing to punish the bears for that.”

Once again, wildlife suffers simply because it’s minding its own business and living the only life it knows.

Now comes word that energy workers are intentionally feeding bears and posing for pictures with them, a la Boo-Boo and Yogi in Jellystone Park.

I suddenly hear my Aunt Gladys scolding, “Oh sure, it’s all in fun until someone gets an eye poked out.”

Ask long-time game warden Ron Velarde, Northwest Region manager, about this and you really can’t print a single word of his unofficial reply. “Stupid” (my words, not his) might be a good summary of his feelings.

“Feeding bears is against the law and we will write citations,” Velarde said. “This kind of human behavior jeopardizes the safety of the people feeding the bears, but more critically it jeopardizes the safety of every person the bear comes into contact with in the future.”

He probably prefers to emphasize the dangers to the bears’ welfare but his official statement sounds good, too.

I guess the DOW could tranquilize and trap a few energy workers and relocate them to Rock Springs or Pinedale, Wyo., but the agency probably couldn’t keep up with the flood of immigrant workers.

It makes no sense to trap and relocate the bears. Relocate where? First, the Roan is where the DOW takes bears, not removes bears. Second, there’s hardly any bear habitat left that isn’t being drilled.

Still that leaves us with the simplistic “Do something.”

Okay, here’s something: In 17 months, we’ll have a new president and then the oil companies will have to face up to their own egregious behavior.

Until then, may the best bear win.

 

[noharleyyet]

Okay, here’s something: In 17 months, we’ll have a new president and then the oil companies will have to face up to their own egregious behavior.


...think it'll be that simple Oak?

 

[Oak]

...think it'll be that simple Oak?

No, wishful thinking on Buchanan's part. We all know that now this train is rolling, wildlife will lose, regardless of who is in office.