Last fall, my daughter and I were asked to participate in a Canadian documentary on wildlife – mostly focusing on Canadian wildlife on the prairie, but also including northern Montana grizzly bears, since Canada apparently has no prairie bears – yet.
I was assured many times during the pre-interviews that the film would neither make me and other ranchers appear as extreme bear-hating, gun-toting rednecks, nor would it make us look like we are perfectly happy the bears are in our yards, corrals, livestock, etc.
Over the course of many interviews about grizzlies, I have learned that not everything I say will be used in the final product, and I have to choose my words very carefully. During this interview, I was under the impression that the director and I had an understanding of the message I wanted to convey, which is basically “we are just here trying to make a living despite these bears being all up in our business.”
In the interview I said I would rather live with grizzlies than live in the city. That is absolutely true. I couldn’t imagine living in the city with gang violence and random shootings and muggings. I think we can all agree that we all prefer the enemy we know. I know bears. I don’t know how to deal with city life. I don’t even know how people live with rattlesnakes.
I also said in the interview that we as ranchers, farmers and landowners are responsible for making sure all species of wildlife stay on the landscape and survive. I meant it. I don’t want to see any species – from monarch butterflies to grizzly bears – disappear forever. That does not mean, however, that I am going to take out all my hayfields and fill them with milkweed for the monarchs, nor does it mean I am actively participating in the recovery of the grizzly bear. Those of us that live and ranch on the Front are simply trying to make a living, and that means we have had to adjust the way we do things because of wolves, grizzlies, and even white tailed deer.
To quote myself, “If that means we have to adjust the way we do things in order to accommodate them, then I feel like that’s our job.” That comment was directed more toward accommodating other wildlife, not necessarily grizzlies. The grizzlies are accommodated by default – we have a creek that runs through the ranch that provides them with great riparian habitat and an abundance of berries. We also have a lot of brush and trees that grow up along the creek banks that provide excellent winter shelter for our cows, and the bears also benefit from this. We aren’t doing anything FOR the bears, they just benefit from the conservative management that we and other ranchers employ to stay viable.
Those of you that know me are well aware of my feelings toward grizzlies, and for those of you that don’t, please listen to my words and not the words of this misinformed Canadian narrator.
On a more positive note, the filming of this documentary is amazing, and I hope you enjoy watching!